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Martin Joseph New user 70 Posts |
If a magician's traditional uniform is a top hat what should you look for when buying one (quality-wise)?
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asper Veteran user 364 Posts |
Look into high quality opera hats.
Obviously color should be a factor. The quality of silk. Do you want an expandable top hat? (One that pops open) Do you want to wear it, or will you just be dumping props into it? If you're not wearing it a bigger one can hold more props. |
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Alewishus Inner circle parts unknown 1226 Posts |
I don't think this is traditional wear.
Magicians have been around long before the top hat, but good luck in your search. Look here: http://www.top-hats.com/ A.
Sack subs, ok Ross?
We miss you asper. |
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asper Veteran user 364 Posts |
Juan Tamariz used to sell his purple hats. Stevens may still carry them.
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Steve V Inner circle Northern California 1878 Posts |
Get one of those nice ones that collapse. They look great.
Steve V |
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npm37 New user 79 Posts |
Make sure you pop it up before you wear it! ha ha! I think top hats are kind of old fashioned. I wear a baseball cap (black). I wear it backwards like my hero Leyton Hewitt! I know this sounds silly but I'm trying to come up with a way of making it into a change bag. I think taking old ideas and puting them into new stuff is the way to go.
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Steve V Inner circle Northern California 1878 Posts |
You want to make your ball cap into a change bag? For silks and stuff it should work.
Steve V |
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Payne Inner circle Seattle 4571 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-09-14 16:16, asper wrote: An Opera Hat is a collapsible Top Hat. It is generally made from silk though I have seen cheaper ones made from other fabrics. Invest in a Silk one and remember to store it open (not collapsed) in a hat box. Most other top hats available today are made from various types of felt, usually cotton based. The nicer ones will be made from fur felt but these are generally quite expensive and hard to find. Occasionally you can find an old beaver felt hat in antique shops but these are generally in very poor condition and usually quite small.
"America's Foremost Satirical Magician" -- Jeff McBride.
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Alewishus Inner circle parts unknown 1226 Posts |
You can still get beaver felt!
Neat. A.
Sack subs, ok Ross?
We miss you asper. |
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Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
Lucy and I pay about $250 each for new silk top hats. However, I have seen many on eBay in the $75 range. (The sizes are European rather than American.)
Good Luck! Bob Magic By Sander |
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asper Veteran user 364 Posts |
Bob,
That sounds about right for a good hat. But it's worth it. A magician or performer with a hat ALWAYS stands out. |
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
Brian Dube at http://www.dube.com/ has fine $75 wool top hats, I juggle it, and kick it up to my head, pull stuff out of it, and show it no respect at all. I buy a new one about every year, so they will last a couple hundred shows if you abuse them like I do.
Al PS You wear a backward baseball cap on a paying job? What else do you wear to compliment that unique look?
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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magicmanila New user Washington DC 88 Posts |
Sorry, I also occassionally wear a baseball cap during my performance, so that the audience can relate to me better, (most specially the kids) and I think it fits my persona better. believe it or not some kids are scared of top hats and capes, I dunno why though?(maybe because they always portray the bad guys in cartoons, and lest we forget, the famous "jack the ripper" with cane and all). I own around ten top hats of different shapes and colors, and some collapsible ones that I do use, but not all the time.
I think we should respect each others preference, "to each his own" as they say. although I do believe that we should always dress up during our performances, as an artist who is not always doing it for the money, I sometimes dress up the way I feel. youre not just doing magic for the money right? and besides its not the clothes that makes you a magician, its YOU! and it would be really boring if all of us dressed alike and did the same effects. out of the box... out of the box... thank you for the dube link, I love the variety of items they have in stock, and their rates. P.S. by the way sometimes I also wear black leather chuck taylors. lighten up no offense.
PERFORM MAGIC AND NOT "PUZZLES" so the audience wont try to "figure out how its done".
KEEP THE MAGIC ALIVE!!! |
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
Magicmanila
I am not offended, I do not disapprove of backward baseball hats, but I did want to know how you can dress like everyone in the audience, and still set yourself apart from the audience. I wear a tie, hat, and suspenders when I work, and people walk up to me and say "you must be the entertainment", because the tie, hat and suspenders is a recognizable uniform. I also know that it is very hot in Manilla and you must dress accordingly. Good luck my friend Al
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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Saulie New user Independence mo 3 Posts |
As for top hats when I was clowning... I used a juggling top hat, they are extremely durable and have a good weight to add a little extra flare to whatever performance you are doing...
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
I'm a bit confused. By juggling top hat do you mean you buy it from a juggling supplier? Or do you have a source for top hats that are made to be juggled?
Al
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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Shane Baker New user nigh on 20 years and I've made a measly 81 Posts |
To each his own, but if we're talking top hats, I'd recommend the opera hat for the simple reason that it packs flat! Of course, as S J Perelman put it, de gustibus ain't what dey used to be....
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IT Magic Regular user Australia 113 Posts |
Ummm,juggleral you seem to assume the audience would be in caps, I have never had an audience member in a cap and thus I would stand out if I wore one. No offense intended but there does seem to be a distinct double standard here based on a backwards cap. Is it the sub culture that this fashion stems from? Just curious, and just wondered what you would think when on occasion I arrive in Tshirt, shorts and sandals with no hat, unkempt hair and haven't shaved for 3-4 days? Gotta love the low expectations it sets up. Look like a bum, perform like a star and speak like the landed gentry. I myself become a conundrum to them along with the effects I perform.
All in a fun quest for knowledge Brendan
Magic, Illusion and Data Management
www.stardockmagi.blogspot.com I picture a world of love and peace, a world without war where people live together in harmony. I also picture us attacking that world 'cause they just wouldn't expect it |
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
IT Magic
Welcome to the magic Café. I'm sure untidy people like magic and when you perform for them they love it, but I perform for the people who can afford my prices who insist on getting their money's worth, so I have to use first class props and wear fine clothing. I have no choice my family likes to eat. have fun Al
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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IT Magic Regular user Australia 113 Posts |
Hi Al thanks for the PM, I myself am mid 30's married, 2 young children and we all eat well. I guess I should be thankful that the people I work for don't judge books by their cover. I am employed to perform magic and to entertain and that is what I do, thankfully they do not feel it necessary to judge me by what I wear. That said I do ofcourse choose my outfits according to the client and venue, sometimes this means a suit and sometimes not. Sometimes I like or need to stand out in the crowd and sometimes I want to blend in a little more. I might also add that I don't simply perform for untidy people and I strongly disagree with your assumption that only well dressed clothing snobs can afford our services, in fact I find this insulting. I can't but wonder how many "rich" people you have met? and how did you know they were rich? by their cloths? did they tell you? I also use first class props when I can afford them, but magic props are so grossly over priced I rarely waste my money. Wearing the outfit that you do and using the props you do makes me feel that you are more of the "traditional" type of magi, derogatory comments about others based on their clothing and pointless references to your "first class props" only seems to comfirm this.
I respect your right to wear and act how you wish, but do not claim that you do it because you have to, and that otherwise you would not get work and your family would not eat, and please try and refrain from your implications that only prim well dressed people have money and unless we all dress to a certain code we will not make money to feed our families. I could say that I push my audience further than you, I challenge their perceptions of not only the physical reality of the world around them but I also challenge the preconceived ideas they have of what a magician is/looks like. That would however be putting down the work you do and constitutes accusing you of perpetuating a stereotype of magicians that does our art more harm than good (in my opinion) so I won't say it I will quote your PM here as I think it is the most telling thing you have written Quote:
Welcome to the magic Café my friend, let me explain myself to you. I am a 60 year old burnt out hippy who is impresonateing a high priced comedy juggler/magician in an effort to avoid having to get a day job. Please don't think because I am always dress up that I am not a fun guy. There is a bit of that 1968 love child still left in me. If this is all true then let that hippy out a bit more, stop impersonating something you think people want and be yourself, if you can't get work based on your skills then a flash costume is simply a cop out. In the end people's expectations of magicians are exactly what we magicians make them, it is us that set the mould that so many now feel they must fill, and yes I too sometimes conform, but when I can I break the mould and try to start broadening peoples expectations of our art. I am no great Criss Angel fan but I enjoy his shows (I think I enjoy and magic shows) and I love the boundaries he is crossing and the perceptions he is challenging. This is not an attack Al and you have made me put some thought into this so well done, just remember that there is no right or wrong, but people like me and magicmanila seem to prove your theory that Well Dressed = Well Paid I'm still looking for a top hat tho', when I do a gig for a bunch of social elitists I want to be prepared God I love a good debate. All in a fun quest for knowledge Brendan ******************************* "I can picture a world of love, a world without war, a world of peace. I can also picture us attacking that world 'cause they just wouldn't expect it."
Magic, Illusion and Data Management
www.stardockmagi.blogspot.com I picture a world of love and peace, a world without war where people live together in harmony. I also picture us attacking that world 'cause they just wouldn't expect it |
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