I totally agree. Seeing him at the combined convention was just simply amazing. You honestly think he hits a certain level early in his act that he can not top, but yet he does. It builds so well and is just very dynamic and powerful.

Kyle

Lu Chen (Man, that was one tight act!)
Cardini (Of course. The magic simply happened.)
Romaine (He seems to have a philosophy similar to Cardini, in a number of ways. He has the moves down to the point where there appear to be no moves in the act - just like Cardini.)

Not necessarily in this order....but I have 6 magicians that immediately come to mind...3 of whom, many magicians may not normally associate with manipulation...but I do...in a different way..so here goes.....

1. Neil Foster: Seeing him when I was 8 years old at an SAM show in St. Louis made me decide right then and there that I was going to be a magician! What an artist! A master!

2. Norm Nielsen: Norm's stage persona and "style" is so polished, so beautiful, fluid, artistic and elegant that it is virtually perfect, in my opinion!

3. Lance Burton: Aside from being one of the genuinely nicest guys in the world, Lance's pure magic manipulative and entertainment presentation almost makes you want to cry, it's so beautiful.....seriously! And Lance, I'm sure would agree with me on Neil and Norm, too!

And, unlike magician's names that POP out and SHOUT OUT at you when you think of manipulation, here are 3 more I'd like to add:

4. Up close and in-your face manipulation:
Tom Mullica:
I've known Tom for years..........and his close up/standup/bar act shtick is one of the coolest things I've ever seen in magic. If you've never seen Tom eat lit cigarettes and play with pink chewing gum up close and personal for civilians, all I can say is...."Wow!" I had the priviledge of seeing Tom work his old Tom Foolery in Buckhead, near Atlanta, and boy was that experience special!(BTW....Tom's another HUGE Neil Foster devote and Tom now does a Red Skelton tribute show in Branson, Missouri)

5: Manipulating on-stage assistants from the audience minds: The Amazing Jonathon:
If you've ever seen him do a live performance in-person you might very well agree with me that just about no one today can manipulate the minds of his on-stage spectators and audiences like he can. The man's totally hilarious and controls and manipulates his assistants and audiences like no one you've ever seen...a trip!

6: Manipulating everyone everywhere on Television: Kris Angel! Isn't that his whole thing? Manipulating the TV Audience? Isn't this an ultimate form of magic manipulation....using the medium of Television's own unique properties to manipulate Television viewers?

For me the best manipulation acts are:
Norm Nielsen
Cardini
Tom Mulicca
Jeff McBride-the masks routine

Cardini, Channing Pollock

Here's a pretty routine that someone on the Café just posted about:

Zihao Liu's Flying Cards Magic Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H0HJ_gWSWc

Jeff Sheridan in Central Park... phenomenal...

Love Lance Burton as well... why doesn't he do it anymore?.. Put the ten minutes back into your dove routine.

I've seen some performers who although are great technically bore the tears out of me. Particularly, the Korean performer who was at the 2008 World Magic Seminar in Vegas..

However the Korean teen performer at the same show was great with a similar act.

I'll go for Fred Kaps, Cardini, Jeff McBride, Takamitsu Uchida and FISM 2006 winner Pilou.

I'll also go for Fred Kaps too! Man that guy was simply amazing!! Smooth,... what an awesome magician/entertainer

Salvano, geoff ray (technically brilliant), pierre brahma, norm nielsen, Ron Mcmillan, larry blake, brian sefton u.k, pat page is a pretty good manipulator also, so many old timers people have not seen or have forgoten about,

One of my favorite manipulation act is Norbert Ferre's one. Unfotunately there is no video of his entire act on the net. His has got at the same time a very funny and very serious characther.

Check his videos :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XTSosDjVa8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YycTcWP0tc&feature=related


He was fism word champion in 2003

While I certainly appreciate Zihao's routine and his technical skill, I felt that a routine in excess of seven minutes was a bit long for me. I started losing focus around 4:30...a little too much twirling of the cards. I know I'm one of those obnoxious people who doesn't have much of an attention span but maybe I'm just conditioned that way. I just felt the routine started to drag a little bit, even though he was doing a variety of different moves. I enjoy both Lance Burton's card routine which in one variety is only about 1:40 to Nestor Hato's which is a fast-paced 5:30 (it almost plays like a chase scene in a movie.) Any thoughts on a good length for a manipulation act?

My favorite is:

SOMA - Phone Act
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jucxw56RDik

One of the best contemporary manipulation acts. The newspaper tear is the best ever.

Fred Kaps
Fred Kaps
Fred Kaps

All three of his acts were unparralled,unequalled.

BTW the guy originally mentioned, who's link wasn't working is too one dimentional.

Here is a link that should NOT been on youtube. I don't know who posted it, but there was not supposed to be any taping of that show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsSmIXY0Vf4&feature=related

Some nice ideas.

Does anyone know what he's using in this video to make the smoke come from his hands after the vanishes?

I suppose it's the ultra smoke 2000 or something like that.

I really admire Jeff McBride and his work!

I'm curious to know what about these acts appeals to you all.

I've only seen most of the people listed on video if at all. Fred Kaps makes a huge impression. He is engaging and charming and his movements are absolutely beautiful. It's hard to imagine a more engaging performer in that style.

The one Cardini clip on youtube is truly wonderful as well. His characterization is superb and the magic is first-rate. It's so much fun watching the act there is no time to worry about "how did he do that?"

Many of the others listed are good, but none have the impact on me that Kaps and Cardidi do.

John

I too love both Fred Kaps and Cardini. I appreciate Soma's phone act because it's something different; he's really thinking outside the box and using an everyday object to do something extraordinary. I love cards and billiard balls and such, but it's nice to see something unexpected sometimes.