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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question, and maybe it's just food for thought, but I myself have tried several different types of attire and suits for my act, trying to find the one that suits my personality just right. But I once read about the late Doug Henning where someone complained about his attire, and the reply was this, "If your magic was as good as Mr. Henning's, you could perform your act in a t-shirt, and get away with it very well!"
At least that was the gist of the quote, as best as I remember. Now I'm not advocating that we all start wearing t-shirts, and I certainly won't do so, but do you have any comments or thoughts what was said in the quote? Nothing important here, just some food for thought to get the gears in your head turning.
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
Daffydoug,
If you are asking this question to fill up server space that is too bad. You said it is not important! If you are truly interested, I would not mind giving my opinion. One could write a lot on this subject, but I will try to answer your examples. Doug Henning as Jeff McBride lived and live a life that is an image of them and for themselves. What they wear is a statement of who and what they are and represent. As for yourself, dress for any occasion as the best dress person of all that you are performing for. So if you perform at prom, dress in tails. If you perform at a banquet, wear an expensive suit or dinner jacket. If you are performing at a picnic, wear whatever you want. Some people create a style of their own. In other words, they would know you by your attire from the back. Maybe you always wear ironed shirts, casual or dress. Maybe you always have a perfect crease in your pants. Do you have a style that stands out from all the rest? If you wear a baseball cap like everyone else then you just blend in. It is a personal thing, but if you are an average dresser and don't want to adapt a style, then stick to the "Dress for Success" policy. Bill |
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Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
Doug Henning was not representative of all magicians even then. He played the role of a young guy of the times. There would have been plenty of people on the street dressed like him at that time. At that time I owned a chain of businesses and the young man that pushed my maintenance crews dressed, talked and acted very much like him. James Taylor might have been a good match in the music industry. Long sleeve knit shirts on stage have gone the way of bell-bottom pants, earth shoes, and bra burning. Long hair and mustaches have also gone through changes. It's show business just like "professional" wrestling.
We find a market and exploit it. Costumes are a big part of that. Lucy and I have homes in Alabama and Los Angeles. It is a shock to us to see people in other parts of the country performing in zoot suits. In Alabama zoot suits are sold for $50 or less on the bad side of town to people on welfare who buy fake gold teeth. On sight, you lock the car doors and certainly would not pay to see them. It is very difficult to overcome a bad first impression. Markets are not uniform. And they are dynamic. Doug Henning was not my style but I really enjoyed his shows. He was a master showman. However, if he were alive and performing today, I'm certain that his dress would be changed. Today that character would probably be much too weak for the available market. Look at Penn and Teller, the Amazing Jonathan and others today. Meekness is not what it was in the 70s. The real question is What's next? The tricks have stayed some what stable. The presentation is what changes. Keyboards have changed. Middle C is the same as it was before. Bob |
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Christopher Starr Inner circle Heart of America 1850 Posts |
Quote:
On 2004-06-02 22:46, Bob Sanders wrote: In reference to Henning changing his wardrobe to fit the times: I have on video one of his late appearances on the Joan Rivers show, just before he retired from performing, wherein he actually wears "Tux Tails", complete with a bow tie! Of course, it was all sequined up, with a turtle design, or something similarly weird, but the point is that he was changing his performance outfit to a more "traditional" style, at least briefly! |
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Peter Marucci Inner circle 5389 Posts |
Doug Henning was as important to magic today as Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin was 200 years ago.
In fact, they are probably the two most important figures in magic. Robert-Houdin took magic out of the realm of the soothsayer and mountebank and brought it into the drawing rooms of the day. Unfortunately, almost every magician ever since thought this was the only way to go and magic ended up as hidebound as when Robert-Houdin tried to liberate it. It then fell to Doug Henning to take magic out of the realm of the cheesy, poweder-blue tux and ruffled shirt and move it into the real world of the day. (In his case, and in his time, that happened to be the hippie world.) Unfortunately, once again, some magicians feel that getting in tune with the street is the only way to go. They are as wrong now as those other magicians were a hundred, or even 50, years ago. It's easy to say "be original"; it's much harder to actually DO it. |
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Dr_Stephen_Midnight Inner circle SW Ohio, USA 1555 Posts |
Henning broke the mold, and that was good.
It's unfortunate that his image wound up being 'dated.' He was unable to 'outgrow' it when it fell out of style. Steve
Dr. Lao: "Do you know what wisdom is?"
Mike: "No." Dr. Lao: "Wise answer." |
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
What does magic mean to you?
How do you want to present magic to others? What sort of costume presents the image you desire to project?
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Bridgewater Regular user North Carolina 184 Posts |
Doug Henning's outfit in "The Magic Show" really worked for him. But he was 27 when the show opened. Ten years later, he was 37 and his outfit's had gotten "fruitier" for want of a better word. A very young man in a jersey and jeans can look cool, but a guy over age 35 wearing rainbows, unicorns and denim vests looks pretty goofy. The sequined tux looked awful on him as well. Henning was one of my favorite magicians, but once 1980 rolled around he could have benefitted from a haircut and a wardrobe stylist.
"Don't run with those..."
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magicalaurie Inner circle Ontario, Canada 2962 Posts |
Quote:
On 2004-12-15 07:31, Jonathan Townsend wrote: I agree. I think Mr. Henning followed a similar philosophy, too. To phrase it another way: "To thine own self be true." Or the audience will see right through. |
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shane_delon Regular user 114 Posts |
Sheesh, I should really watch a video of Doug Henning sometime. I've been into magic around 10 years, but have only seen those who were popular since I've started.... Anyone have any Henning videos they've recorded off of TV that I could get a copy of? I'd pay for the video and shipping or trade a DC or worlds greatest magic or something.
sd |
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magicalaurie Inner circle Ontario, Canada 2962 Posts |
I took a lesson from Doug. I wear blue jeans ONSTAGE!!!! Works for me.
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Dr_Stephen_Midnight Inner circle SW Ohio, USA 1555 Posts |
Rudy Coby is a good example of the 'Henning approach' in recent years.
Dressing in the current fashion would have limited use to someone like me as: 1. I am an older gentleman and, 2. I play a character that requires as certain amount of 'Old World occult.' I DO, however, often sport the in-vogue, collarless, no-tie shirts which, appropriately, give me a vaguely 'clerical' look. Steve
Dr. Lao: "Do you know what wisdom is?"
Mike: "No." Dr. Lao: "Wise answer." |
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magicalaurie Inner circle Ontario, Canada 2962 Posts |
I think those shirts are VERY COOL, Steve.
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Bill Rubie New user Baltimore 61 Posts |
I had the plesure of seeing Doug Henning on two occassions in the 80's. His dress was appropriate for the times. Like David Blaine, Chris Angel his dress was part of his persona. (Write up to his un-timely death) We had a great time and no one even thought twice about how he was dressed.
It's like looking at a yearbook twenty years later and thinking, I can't believe I dressed that way. It’s all relative to the times.
When a person starts off a factual statement with "They Say"...
Please ask, who are they? Bill |
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Amazing Magic Co Inner circle 1712 Posts |
I thought Doug's approach took the glitz out and made magic seem more real and spontaneous. This has shaped my style a fair bit. As a kid, I was influenced and inspired by The Magic Show. I was flattered to run into him in a restaurant on another occassion where he couldn't have been more humble and spent a genrous amount of time talking to me about my interest in magic. Thirty years later, I'm still insipred ... now that's magic.
Dan. |
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Daniel Faith Inner circle Neenah, Wisconsin 1526 Posts |
I liked the way Henning combined theater in his shows and that made way more of an impression on me than his dress.
By the way, you can still buy his broadway show DVD. "The Magic Show". Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005K......v=glance
Daniel Faith
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
Man, thanks a million for the link!!!
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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Amazing Magic Co Inner circle 1712 Posts |
I just bought the CD as well. The show was much more entertaining in person. Either way, it was fun to watch.
Dan. |
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P.T. Murphy Loyal user 224 Posts |
I think the thing that is important to remember for ALL of us...and Doug Henning is the perfect example...is to express what is INSIDE of you. Henning was who he was on stage and off. What we saw through his costumes and his staging was an exstension of something that lived INSIDE of him. Listen to what is going on inside of you. Let that out. Don't worry about what others have to say about it. You MUST express YOURSELF. That is what this is about. Find out who you are. Put that out there. As Magicalaurie reminded us ...'To thine own self...'
P.T. Murphy
www.ptmurphy.com |
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magicmanila New user Washington DC 88 Posts |
Very well said Murph
PERFORM MAGIC AND NOT "PUZZLES" so the audience wont try to "figure out how its done".
KEEP THE MAGIC ALIVE!!! |
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