Gazzo has a new DVD coming out. I will post a review when I get a look at it shortly.

... on what ?

Street Cups Starring Gazzo (DVD Pre-order) - Learn from the legend! Pre-order now and get the Gazzo Street Cups and Balls Book for FREE!

There is a clip at

Clip

Check it out.

kOnO

Ordered it, A good chance to see gazzo performing (that's what the despriction says, 1 hour performance part) and free book. I was sold ;=)

I saw Gazzo perform right after the IBM convention in Miami. My wife and I went to Key West and saw his act. Truthfully, I thought it was very basic, and the loads were telegraphed. I had heard so much about how great he was, but truthfully, I was not impressed.

So we left the boardwalk and went to Schooner Wharf to see Frank Everhart, Jr. - now that is a magician!

Scott

There is an amazing quality in the basic elements of gazzos act. The loads may be telgrafed but I never fail to hear gasps from people when he does it...

hey hundreds of thousands or people cant be wrong,

AJR

There's a basic difference between "magician's eyes" and "laymen's eyes" when it comes to Gazzo's routine. It doesn't take much for us to "see" (even if we don't actually see it) something, but the audience doesn't know it's coming so they just have a good time watching the show.

In addition, Gazzo is a master of misdirection with comedy and outrageous behavior. The magic is only a part of the experience.

Flimnar

Compton,

During his Seattle master class, Gazzo showed us the loading sequence and said "You know, magicians yell 'He's putting the cup in the bag!!!' Yes, I put the cup in the bag. Get over it."

So, yes, Gazzo keeps the loading simple and wholly transparent to magicians. But for the uninitiated, it works very well.


Curt

Kinda like going to an amusement park and critiquing the color of the seats on the rollercoaster isn't it? What about the ride?

Gazzo could do an entire show without ever having done any magic and he would still make money in the Street.Still have people laughing and remembering him. He is a genius when it comes to crowd control, timing and overall entertainment. He also extremely knowledgable when it comes to magic and it's theories.
So, yes you may have seen the loads coming but did you watch the "SHOW"?
Did you laugh? Did you have a good time and feel good after experiencing the show?

If not, then you missed out. You missed a valuable learnig experience.

Besides, It's a fun ride man.

I couldn't agree more on his showmanship. He is a great showman, and he has some funny lines. However, his humor was very blue and he didn't seem to try to elevate it over the kids' heads - but hey, it was Key West. He kind of reminded me of Don Rickles with the insult lines, but you know after watching Don Rickles, you still liked him. When someone would walk away from his show, he would stop the show and yell "No attention span! No attention span!" at them as they walked away. Now I know that is his schtick, but I think he chooses a poor way of delivering it.

So, I did laugh some, learn some, and moved on.

I guess I had heard so much about how "good" he was that I had a high level of expectation of him.

Scott

His humor is not to everyone's taste, that's for sure. I only use two of his lines (neither even vaguely insulting) when I perform the routine.


Curt

Compton,
This is the sidewalk shuffle area. Did you stay around long enough to see Gazzo's hat? (By that I mean, how many bills went into it?) It's a mystery how he does that. I know because I've seen Gazzo get 4 times the money I get at the same pitch with the same people. And I'm pretty good.

Jim

Jim,

I did stay around to see his take. I heard lots of comments too. I gave him $10 myself. Truthfully, I saw more money go into several other perfomers' hats. I saw one guy (a gymnast) ask for a bill from the crowd for his next demonstration. Every bill that was handed to him was "too small" as he took it into his hand. He ended up with more than $50 before he got a twenty, and said, "now we're getting close!" - then out came a fifty. He ended up snatching the bill off of a drink can with his mouth as he did a no-handed cartwheel. That was over $120 take, and that was midshow. I have spent a lot of time with those performers down there, so I know where I am coming from on this one.

Scott

"Truthfully, I thought it was very basic"

And the problem with this is what? Yes the moves are basic but that does not mean that they are easy to master, to suggest otherwise is just wrong. Attend a masterclass with Gazzo and notice how much time he spends on the details of a basic move and the trueism is that it looks basic because it is executed flawlessly.

"and the loads were telegraphed"

To who? To you as a magician. Not to be disrespectful, but who cares if a magician feels that way. The fact that you feel that they were telegraphed suggests that you were looking for them. What about the people around you, did they feel that they were telegraphed. My guess is that they did not!

It's unusual for Gazzo to say anything other than I'll have another cookie but in a more reflective moment he suggested that his props, moves and routines are little more than art materials which he is using to paint a larger picture.

Let's just look at the picture not at the brushes. Now you may not like the resulting picture but at least see it through the eyes of a punter.

Simon

This is a thread about his C&B DVD, which I hope does well, not the merits of his act. I am not trying to change anyone's mind here, I just stated my opinion. I am not ignorant of the goals of street performing, and I do see the picture; it's just not one that I prefer. I guess art is in the eye of the beholder.

Cheers,

Scott

Scott:

Not to be demeaning, but when you can stand next to Gazzo and pull the kind of crowd he can with material that is as basic as what he does, then I think you might be able to criticize him.

The show he was performing in Key West was not about what you should do. It's about what he does, and not just at Key West. It's also what he does at Fanny Hall in Boston.

The "money getting" technique that the gymnast used is really crass. He's not the first act I have seen using it. The Sturdy Beggars Mud Show used the same technique to build a hat 20 years ago. It was crass then, and it's crass now. It's payment before the fact. And that puts busking into the realm of a con job.

Why would Gazzo yell "No attention span" at someone who was leaving during his cups and balls routine? Wouldn't people turn to look at the person leaving? He probably could have loaded all his cups at once and no one would have noticed! Hmmmm, gives one pause.....

Flimnar

... having seen Gazzo's cups & balls at a lecture I was lucky enough to attend back in (what was it? '04? '05?) I can honestly say that he's ***ably good.

As to his lines - note that his promo stuff offers "Authentic British Sarcasm". This is his character when he's working. It works for *him*, but that doesn't mean it will work for *you*. The mechanics of his C&B is brilliant - everything is done with a purpose, even if the purpose is to put you off-balance so he can take care of the gruntwork of loading this, moving that, and somehow getting that freaking melon under his hat.

(And as an aside, jugglers and gymnasts are always a big hat show - it's part of the ancient rivalry between jugglers and magicians. One day, my son, there will be a final reckoning. Lemme show you where you can put that club, pal! Cough. Ahem. Ignore that.)

As wiser, more experienced people than I have said - Gazzo's show is only 3 tricks long, more or less. But there's a hell of a lot of show that happens in and amongst those three tricks. He works the *audience* as opposed to the *effects*, and that's what keeps the crowd there and makes them more than willing to toss green bits of paper into his hat.

... remember: It ain't magicians you're trying to get to give you money when you're out there. Besides, we're a stingy bunch.

Jugglers hats are bigger - but fewer!

/Ark