The best manipulation act I have ever seen is Terry Evanswood's card manipulation act. I have never seen any better the music, special lighting and nothing but pure skill in his manipulation.

I felt that way the first time I saw Terry's act... but then I saw it again later (at a Christmas show when he had his own theater, I believe) and it looked less polished - or maybe it was the fact I had sense learned how to perform the manipulation moves. No clue.

And who could forget Yo Kato! A refreshing look at wand and thimble manipulation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPbousz2T6o&feature=related

As you've said already in your question it's very difficult to give a valuable answer. All depends what you're looking for.
You could "judge" the most advanced technical aspect of an act or the most entertaining act for you as an audience member. Since technically the manipulations are supposed to be simple and clean in the audience view I think that the audience don't really cares about how you do it (a card production stays a card production even though the technical achievement can be different) as long as it's technical perfectly done, but they DO care about the presentation (the story plot, the entertainment value...).

And this of course has been and still is and always will be a personal opion for each and everyone.

Oliver.

Four of my favorite performers (in no particular order) are Channing Pollock, Johnny Hart, Silvan and Levent. I've seen Levent and Johnny Hart perform a couple of times live at conventions, but Pollock and Silvan only on television. All of them--flawless manipulation.

Another great magician who specialized in card and billiard ball manipulation is Sweden's Carlo Tornedo. It was actually his performance on NBC's "International Showtime" that inspired me to learn manipulative magic.

I would have liked to have seen Ganson in his prime.

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

Cardini, McBride, Kapps..very nice...

Hi Sonny:

I'm honored to be among those names, thanks.

I always considered Cardini to be head and shoulders above everyone else, with his perfect fusion of technique and acting.

I also loved Channing for his sense of style.

Kaps was great, because of his excellent acting. Kaps could take a trick that he did a thousand times and make it look (to the audience) as if he was experiencing it for the first time.

Sadly, I only saw those men on film.

Of the performers I saw live, I especially liked Richard Ross, because of his easygoing personality combined with excellent magic and methods.

Johnny Hart was great for his sense of fun on stage.

I've always been curious about Ganson, because I grew up studying his books. The two old timers in the UK with whom I discussed Ganson, told me that Ganson was a better writer than a performer, but perhaps others might feel differently.

I don't know the Tornedo that you speak of, but are you thinking of Toreno from Norway? Toreno was a very fine magician!!!

Best regards,
Levent
http://www.LeventMagic.com
http://www.MagicQandA.com

I believe Norm Neilsen is right up there with the best of the best. I have seen him twice live and I could not believe his perfection with card productions. Perfect fans every one and the quanity, I was per-plexed being he had a waist coat jacket tight at the waist, very much like the old "Ike" military jacket. True invention of original props.

I agree with Sonny. I remember watching on Youtube a few years ago about Levent and was kind of puzzled because the person I remember watching at the Magic Castle in 80's did a slick manipulation act.

When I bought his book about Benson it was like a "duh" moment. The sudden change to the comedy act is what threw me.

I loved it when Levent did the jumbo Hummer card around his body. I wanted to do it ever since.

Thanks Guys!!!

I actually did two different manipulation acts. All the videos of me that are out there show the first act. But after a year (1983-1984) in a Atlantic City casino, the shows producers, told me that if I were to create an entirely new act, I could stay in the new show for another year (1984-1985). So, I did what the client wanted and did a new act. It's not as good as the first act, but it did have a few cool things that were quite unusual. When I get back from the road, I'll see if I can find the video of the act and post it on youtube!

Best regards,
Levent
http://www.LeventMagic.com
http://www.MagicQandA.com

Thanks, that would be nice. Do you have any from the Magic Castle?

I know I have videos of my comedy act at the Magic Castle, but I can't remember if I have video of the manipulation act at the Castle. At home I have a big box full of VHS tapes of my performances and I frankly have now idea what is exactly on them!

Best regards,
Levent
http://www.LeventMagic.com
http://www.MagicQandA.com

Levent,
I also carried around the same question in my mind about Ganson and for the same reason: because the routined manupulation books were my first magic books and had such an influence on me. My first ring routine was Ganson's from his book and my first torn and restored newspaper too. And when I was a kid I used to do his card production routine with 75 cards (which I can't do anymore)

I used to ask everyone I knew about how he was as a performer. I did find a youtube video of Ganson and I believe if you search youtube you can still find it posted. It looks like it's a video shot off of a tv screen.

Jim

Never having seen Lewis Ganson in his prime, I can't speak with any authority on his presentational skills. However, I trust Henry Hay's assessment in his Prefatory Note to _Routined Manipulations: Part II_: "I can just about count on the fingers of one hand the living magicians who are great performers, great teachers, and also willing to pass on their best material. Lewis Ganson gets counted on the forefinger of that hand." The first chapter in _Routined Manipulations: Part I" is devoted to the "Presentation of Manipulation."

I think in any art form--be it painting, sculpture, acting, writing or magic--to a certain extent the times dictate what a great artist is. Very few people in any of the arts--performing, visual, or musical--would transcend the preferences and values of their time. No one questions the greatness of Shakespeare or Tennyson, but to slavishly emulate their styles today would be ludicrous. Shakespeare himself acknowledged the need to keep pace with the times when he took the plot of Chaucer's _Troilus and Criseyde_ and gave the world _Romeo and Juliet_. And what was Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee's advice to aspiring comic book writers? "Read Shakespeare!"

Still, there is an eternal artistic truth in Tennyson's observation that:
The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
And God fulfills himself in many ways
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.

I was always perplexed by the dichotomy of a custom that could be simultaneously "good" and yet able to "corrupt." Substitute the word "Art" where Tennyson used the word "God" and you come up with an insightful statement (with archaic verb use replaced by modern speech):
The old style changes, making way for the new,
And Art is viewed by us in other ways
To prevent one style from suffocating others.

I attended a lecture on the presentation of magic many years ago where the lecturer said that agents in Vegas were looking for fast-paced, flashy magic acts. I asked whether Channing Pollock's act would be booked by the Vegas agents of the 70's. He said "Probably not." But then some years later, Lance Burton arrives on the scene with a Pollock-like act and becomes a sensation. The music for his act is classical music from an even earlier time, but infused with a presentational touch that makes it fresh and reflects more modern preferences.

Similarly, on the (I think) fifth David Copperfield special, David presents a levitation that is light years beyond the Levitation of the Princess Karnac--but presented with a classy Gershwin musical composition.

There is a definite yin/yang aspect to all the arts, reflecting a balance of the best of the old and the best of the new.

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

Hi Jim
I just watched that video again on my iPhone and I'm not so sure that the man is Lewis Ganson. I have a feeling that the performer is Arthur Buckley. I have about 15 minutes of film of Mr. Buckley and that person has the same hair line and glasses as Buckley. Also he moves a lot like Buckley. Also, I don't think that Ganson performed with glasses, but Buckley definitely did. I can't say for sure but this video might be mislabeled?

Levent
http://www.LeventMagic.com
http://www.MagicQandA.com

Posted: Aug 19, 2010 6:13pm
Oh and one more thing about this YouTube video. I'm traveling internationally right now and I am away from my library, but I remember from Arthur Buckley's book "Principles and Deceptions", Mr. Buckley used a table that had a top that was round and painted black with a chrome trim around the edge (see his chapter on his Phantasy in Silver. That table in the book looks very much like the table on the YouTube video. Furthermore the close-up shot of the hands looks like a card production from the Buckley book.

IF this video IS Buckley, than it is a real treasure, because it is the only film I've seen of him doing billiard balls!

Levent
http://www.LeventMagic.com
http://www.MagicQandA.com

Interesting thing is that the comment from tinarocks88 says this is her grandfather.

I noticed that as well. But please note, TinaRocks88 did not actually post this video. You can hear in the background, men talking in a foreign language (possibly in an Eastern European tongue?).

I think TinaRocks88 simply put her granddads name in the YouTube sear h and hit upon this video.

If TinaRocks88's parents claimed that the video was Lewis Ganson, then it would be far more believable.

Bottomline for me is that my memory of Ganson from the photos from his books, does not look like that performer. But if you look at the photos from the Arthur Buckley book you will see a real resemblance. I have two films of Buckley doing the misers dream. One film is Black and White and the other is in color and this guy moves and looks like Buckley.

I will know more when I have access to my library next week!

Levent
http://www.LeventMagic.com
http://www.MagicQandA.com

I'm looking at the "Lewis Ganson" video with Arthur Buckley's book "Principles and deceptions" in hand. Compared to the photos in the book, this video is definitely of Arthur Buckley. This book had a big influence on my manipulations. First time I see a Buckley performance.

Thanks for checking Jacques!

A few more thoughts about this film.

I just did a check on the Magicpedia page and it seems that Lewis Ganson was born in 1913 and died in 1980.

Arthur Buckley on the other hand was born in 1890 and died in 1953.

If you look at that video, you can seen that it is an older man. Also when the guy bows his head down you can see that his hairline is receding pretty far back.

I would guess that the performer is about 60 years old.

When Arthur Buckley was 60 years old, it was the year 1950.

When Lewis Ganson was 60 years old, it was the year 1973.

I know that it is footage shot from a TV screen, but the way that film looks (sort of like the early Mystic Craig films, do you think that it was a film shot in the 1970s? Or do you agree with me that it is from an earlier time, such as the 1940s or 1950s?

For those of you who have the film of Buckley doing the Misers Dream from the TV show "You Asked For It" (see here: http://www.miraclefactory.net/youacts3.htm ), look at the YouTube video at counter number 3:08 and see how he address the audience and places the top hat on the table. The hand and body movements are identical to Arthur Buckley.

Best regards to all,
Levent
http://www.LeventMagic.com
http://www.MagicQandA.com

Attached is a photo. The two shots on the left on Arthur Buckley, the man on the right is Lewis Ganson

Levent
http://www.LeventMagic.com
http://www.MagicQandA.com

Click here to view attached image.