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David Parr V.I.P. 898 Posts |
The Magic Cabaret is featured in the December issue of MAGIC Magazine! Thanks to Kevin Burke for the interview and to Ken Carl for the photos! Here's a bit of the intro to the interview:
"The Magic Cabaret, a show that can be seen every Wednesday night at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Chicago, is full of surprises. The show opened two years ago at the Biograph Theater, before moving a few blocks away to the Greenhouse last year. At The Magic Cabaret, the sense of wonder is conjured up in a way that is fun and frequently funny, but with an undercurrent of something dark and mysterious, and possibly dangerous. There is talk of zombies and incantations. A meal of sewing needles is washed down with a whiskey chaser. Even a pleasant visit to the World's Fair has a dark side." |
ufo Inner circle Phoenix, Arizona 1185 Posts |
Looking forward to reading it and someday reasonably soon...seeing the show!!
"What's your drug?" she asked. "Hope" he said, "The most addicting one of all."
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Necromancer Inner circle Chicago 3076 Posts |
Congrats, David! As always, wishing you and P.T. a successful run.
Best, Neil
Creator of The Xpert (20 PAGES of reviews!), Cut & Color, Hands-Off Multiple ESP (HOME) System, Rider-Waite Readers book, Zoom Pendulum ebook ...
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Gordon Special user Chicago 692 Posts |
And never let it be said they allowed a Magic Cabaret audience to come down with scurvy.
(If you've seen the show, you'll understand.) |
dennfox Inner circle 1680 Posts |
It's too bad you're not taking the show on the road. I would love for you to do it in San Francisco!
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David Parr V.I.P. 898 Posts |
Gordon will be making a special guest appearance at The Magic Cabaret next week, on December 16! As a repeat guest performer, he also is scurvy free.
PT and I have discussed the possibility of occasionally taking the show on the road, dennfox. Someday, that may come to pass. In the meanwhile, come visit the Windy City! |
Maurice James New user 32 Posts |
I do have to say that I found some of what was said in the article a little controversial. Something about people not liking bad magic or bad magicians. Who are you to dictate what is good or bad? Honestly. I was disappointed at the attitude Mr. Murphy displayed. Who is to say that he is good? A bit taken by the arrogance...
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Bill Ligon Inner circle A sure sign of a misspent youth: 6437 Posts |
Hmmm! Is it arrogance or simply a realistic view? Do you mean you believe people like bad magic and bad magicians? If that were true, magicians would be at the top of the entertainment heap.
Tashi delek, Bill
Author of THE HOLY ART: Bizarre Magick From Naljorpa's Cave. NOW IN HARDCOVER! VIEW: <BR>www.lulu.com/content/1399405 ORDER: http://stores.lulu.com/naljorpa
<BR>A TASSEL ON THE LUNATIC FRINGE |
Maurice James New user 32 Posts |
Bill -
I respectfully disagree. People like Hannah Montana, Pam Anderson, and Criss Angel are at the top of the entertainment heap or were at one time. I think this pretty much says it all. I don't think magicians are meant to be at the top of the heap anyway. Just my thought. Who is to say what is BAD? Really. Are there rules for how much something must suck for it to be bad? Is Mr. Murphy suggesting that he knows what BAD is? Maybe he is bad. Well he is not. I have seen the show and I love both of the performers. And actually saw the Gordon guy mentioned above. All three very GOOD magi! LOL! But it is this kind of attitude from "professionals", that kind of ticks me off. You are an amateur, you must suck. I have my own show, I must be good, listen to what I have to say. Did you read the article? What was your take on it? Anyone else read it? What did you think? Best Maurice |
hendoo New user 99 Posts |
Okay. I have not logged on in a while. But I must come to P.T. Murphy's defense as I know he was banned from this forum a long time ago, for a very silly reason. Or so I have been told.
A few years ago, was it that long ago? Mr. Murphy and I had words on this forum. I thought he was a little too colorful for my liking and he was insulting somebody I knew to be a stand up person. Well one thing lead to another. We PMd. We emailed. We talked on the phone. I found out he traveled to Germany as did I. We set up a meeting at the Frankfurt Buchmesse, where we talked about magic. I found him to be a very charming, intelligent person. His sense of humor certainly didn't translate over the email. He invited me to see the Magic Cabaret when I came through Chicago. I did. I loved it! He and David Parr were two of the nicest guys. I really don't think he meant anything by BAD magic. I really think he was just saying that people really do want to see MAGIC! So when it is not done so well, there is a higher level of disappointment than if they had eaten an okay pizza. Maybe Mr. Parr can shed light on this subject? Maurice I will PM you. If this show is still running next year I would love to meet up next time I am in Chicago. Blessings to you all, Mary Jane |
Maurice James New user 32 Posts |
Ah jeez. Not trying to hammer this guy. I saw the show met with them after. They were supper swell. Maybe I am being to sensitive. Did anybody else read this article? It was kind of long. Not a lot of pictures, but I liked it overall. I am not saying he came off as a know it all like that Truthteller guy who posts on this forum. Or some of the others...but he had a bit of an edge.
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Maurice James New user 32 Posts |
Hendoo-
PMd you. Let's meet up when you are in town. |
SpellbinderEntertainment Inner circle West Coast 3519 Posts |
Maybe I’m all ego, but I certainly know when I see “bad” theatre,
or a bad film, read a bad book, have a bad meal, or view bad entertainment. There are many great, thinking, committed magicians out there performing (David Parr personally comes to mind in Chicago) but there are also too many sloppy, unrehearsed, unoriginal, parroting magicians out there, undisciplined and unprepared, who don’t help Magic’s rep. When I get bland, over boiled vegetables in a restaurant I know that’s a “bad” meal. When I can’t stand to turn another page I know I’m done with that book. When I see someone stumbling through a new routine or his zombie bounce across the stage, I want to walk out of the show. So, I don’t think “bad” is only in the eye of the beholder, no matter how generous that beholder may be in their opinion. And in its rich history Magic has been at the top of the entertainment heap, and will no doubt be again… if we stop being so kind and politically correct as to what “good” entertainment is. My thoughts only, Walt |
Bill Ligon Inner circle A sure sign of a misspent youth: 6437 Posts |
Maurice, I mean nothing personal in my disagreement with you, and I have never met the people involved. I have never been to Chicago, either.
However, there is a lot of so-called "magic" out there that just plain sucks, and that is about the nicest thing you can say about it. And it is not an amateur vs professional distinction, either. There are some magicians out there who are very well known and make a lot of money, and as performers they are terrible. At the same time there are amateurs who never perform for people outside of their immediate families (and some who never perform at all), who are excellent magicians and would be wonderful performers. Bad is bad, whether it is magic, acting, juggling, cooking, dancing, crocheting, swimming, climbing, whatever. Bad is usually immediately recognizable no matter what criteria are applied. Mr. Murphy expressed his opinion, and I am strongly inclined to agree with him. I believe there is more bad magic out there than good. Tashi delek, Bill
Author of THE HOLY ART: Bizarre Magick From Naljorpa's Cave. NOW IN HARDCOVER! VIEW: <BR>www.lulu.com/content/1399405 ORDER: http://stores.lulu.com/naljorpa
<BR>A TASSEL ON THE LUNATIC FRINGE |
Maurice James New user 32 Posts |
Hi Bill and Walt-
I agree with both of you. I guess I was just being a little too sensitive. Again, I have seen the show on several occasions. I have met both Parr and Murphy. Both were great performers and really very sweet people after the show. So I guess I misunderstood Murphy's comments. I have been having a tough time with the magic forums and the magazines. There are so many self professed experts, spouting their philosophies and posting online harassing people like me who just want to have fun with magic (and then when you actually see these jokers perform you realize they have their heads up their butts!) that when somebody comes around and says it like it is, I tend to get skeptical. That said. I highly recommend the show. Great magic. Great performances. My paranoid bad! LOL! Best, Maurice |
David Parr V.I.P. 898 Posts |
It's important to bear in mind that PT was not aiming his remarks at any particular performer or performance. He wasn't issuing decrees or anathemas. Here's what he said: "I learned early on that people do not have an aversion to magic. They have an aversion to bad magic and bad magicians, but they love magic when it's done well." PT didn't declare himself the arbiter of what is good or bad. He was simply sharing something that was learned in the course of performing magic for audiences of laypeople. What he and I learned is that people are hungry for mystery. They want to give magic a chance. Our task is to not step on that desire in a desperate bid for laughs and approval.
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christiancagigal Special user SF Bay Area 625 Posts |
I'm chiming in way too late because I've just read this but I'll say this much. Maurice's feelings about the "Negator" way things go down on forums is completely understandable. You aren't the first one to feel that way and I'm sure you won't be the last.
You're feelings about how some lay the hammer on others yet seem to need a hammer on their own performances, is all part of what many here on this thread are talking about. Sadly, suggesting that others can't point out what they believe is "bad magic" is just as bad as saying someone else is doing "bad magic". We are all speaking from a place of opinion based on our own standards (for ourselves and others) and experience. But, without making such statements we censor the conversation. And without the conversation we have no change and progress. I have to agree with P.T.'s statements for it's the same situation in theatre. Tim Robbin's was on NPR recently talking about how hard it is to get new audiences in the theatre (specifically Actor's Gang in Culver which he co-founded 20-30 years ago.) The reason being that everybody's first theatre experience is not a great broadway musical or riviting and intense play with only two people in a small black box space; rather it's a painfully long highschool production or crudely directed community theatre showing of Bye Bye Birdie where nobody seems to be able to hold a note let alone dance. (Okay that's my version of what he said but it wasn't much different.) And, that makes lots of people not consider going to the theatre when they want to go out. The problem isn't really even the bad magicians or bad plays. The problem is with the GOOD magicians and GOOD plays. I truly believe the GOOD one's don't do enough to put their stuff out there in the public eye and make it affordable and accessable for most to go see. The longer that happens the wider the canyon between audiences and our art gets. And, then it becomes even easier for us to say that Magicians don't belong at the "Top of the Heap" which is a statement I only partially agree with. Currently, magicians don't belong up there. But, WHY NOT? Hopefully one day some of us will have a little piece of the heap along with the rest. That would only help magic....maybe even bizarre magic....
"Besides the known and the unknown, what else is there?"-Harold Pinter
www.christiancagigal.com |
Maurice James New user 32 Posts |
Yes! I like the way this is headed.
I WAS being too sensitive. I did go back a read the article. I really enjoyed it. Got more out of it this time around. My apologies to P.T. Murphy wherever he is! LOL! Thanks David for clearing things up for me. You are the voice of reason. Christian thanks for your response. I agree with you 100%. I really do hate the tone of some of the people on this forum and on some of the others. And the most vocal ones seem to be the guys with the leas amount of personality! I mean, look at some of the YouTube videos that these guys post! Ugh. It just disappoints me when people go on and on. And I start to think they may be on to something and then I see them perform and I realize they are all talk and no action. I guess I was a little too quick to add Murphy to the list of know it all - self professed experts that don't think twice about nailing guys like me to the wall and really have no personality. As I have said over and over and over. The Magic Cabaret was great fun! And I got to hang out with Davd and P.T. after the show. The magic was cool, they were great performers and after the show they were gracious, down to earth, and totally open to just hanging out and talking magic. So I was a little weirded out when I thought on of the good guys was a creep like the rest. BUT after reading the article again I realize I was just being a little paranoid. I bought some tix to the last show of 2009. See you David at The Magic Cabaret. |
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