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lonewolf New user 30 Posts |
No one here is jealous of what Blaine did or has achieved. No one here is trying to tear him down.
At least not me. I'm first to put up my hand and say that he has popularised magic again. Good or bad? that's for another topic. But anyone who is a keen student of magic would know that his magical effects are very simple. While some magicians like Bill Malone can carry simple tricks and make them a crowd pleaser by his sheer personality, some magicians like Eugene Burger can carry simple tricks and make them reputation makers by his presentation; The dramatic effect produced by the simple tricks David Blaine does is actually due to the zooming in of audiences' reactions "OH MY GOD!!!!" "HE IS NOT FROM THIS WORLD". He does not have that much credit due as a performer alone. I don't see any from his presentation nor is there any chance for routining. Due to the very charateristic of street magic; hit and run. So, as a magician, I don't admire his magic. But as a person, I applaud his marketing and his courage to sell. But nevertheless, using camera editing and wires to fake a real levitation, and then have the stooge audience say it is real.... That is really too much. And from there I can see why although he has rejuvenated the interest in magic, so many people, who started because of him, are disgusted with him once they know. |
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marmaduke New user 61 Posts |
Jonathon. Vernon was better at entertaining laymen than you give him credit for.
He was *** good at it in fact. He didn't enjoy performing particularly but when he did he was terrific at it. In his time he did plenty of entertaining for laymen. I once saw him on TV performing in company with Slydini and Cy endfield for about half an hour and he was quite wonderful for magicians AND laymen. He suffered a little from stagefright believe it or not and this I think affected his stage work. I think he was more at ease performing for magicians but make no mistake his material was very layman orientated. He would shear away moves and his stuff is very practical indeed. He virtually revolutionised close up magic almost single handedly. He wasn't a businessman and in showbusiness you unfortunately have to be to some extent. Blaine is also wonderful in his own weird way. He should not be compared with Vernon in the first place. Two different types of greatness. Apples and oranges. Keep them separate. |
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andre combrinck Special user South Africa 953 Posts |
Blaine is good and I respect him for what he has done for the art.But comparing him to Dai Vernon seem absurd.All the 'greats' and us have been influenced by Vernon.That includes Ammar,Harris,Carney,Elmsley...
By influence I mean the effects and the thinking behind the effects.Vernon was known(when he was living) as the greatest sleight of hand performer and inventor.He was given this title by other magicians and not by himself. I think even Blaine would agree Dai Vernon Rulez,PERIOD. Andre |
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
Quote:
On 2004-05-21 19:50, Lonnie Dilan wrote: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! You are cracking me up!
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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chrisrkline Special user Little Rock 965 Posts |
This whole Blaine episode in magic has really skewed our outlook. Since the rise of mass media, only a handful of big stage magicians have made any kind of dent on mass public consciousness. Close-up magicians have never been well known. Blaine changed that, but not necessarily in a way that particularly helps close-up magic. He was in the right place at the right time. But where is the weekly series or even the monthly specials? The network would jump at the chance to show more new specials if they thought there was a market for them. Heck the networks would throw some other close-up magicians on TV (big time network) if they thought there was a market for it. But I imagine they know that there isn't. Blaine was lightning in a bottle. The average layman does not sit down and watch magic on TV, week after week. I too hear people mention Blaine, or to be honest, they mention that guy on TV. They don't remember his name or any of his tricks, other than the levitation and the bite out quarter.
But anyway, maybe I am stupid. I don't watch TV regularly and my experience with Blaine is minimal. But when was his last new TV special, with magic? How much did he do? It seems we talk a lot about Blaine, but what has he done recently? It looks like he does something every two years. All we really do is talk about his impact; We can't very well talk about what he is actually doing, since he doesn't really seem to do much.
Chris
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Reis O'Brien Inner circle Seattle, WA 2467 Posts |
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On 2004-05-22 00:02, Jonathan Townsend wrote: Ah, too true. But I see nothing wrong in the way Vernon practiced his craft. Sometimes, that's just your bag. It's what you're into. Or not into. Vernon did manage to become known as the magician's magician and this credit was bestowed upon him by fellow cardmen. I recently read "Phantoms Of The Card Table". This gave an interesting look into Vernon and the magicians of his time. There were some strange loyalties and rivalries going on back then. Not to mention some severe jealousies. I guess that's just part of magic. I can see where some jealousy would come in with both Blaine and Vernon. Here's Vernon, creating and fine-tuning these brilliant and almost poetic effects, and seemingly with ease, yet most of the laypublic would never get to see them. I can see how many other magicians, trying to make a name for themselves would think, "Jeeze! If I had what he has I could be great! How dare he keep it all to himself!" Then here's Blaine, doing $10 tricks on a street corner, with less personality and skill than some of us believe we have, and he's pulling in millions of dollars for it. Magicians are thinking, "Man, I've got a biting quarter and can pull off a DL... where's my million bucks?" Maybe it does all come down to marketing. As much as I like or dislike David Blaine, one thing I am certain of is that old P.T. Barnum would be proud! |
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Pocket_Picker04 New user Florida 9 Posts |
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On 2004-05-21 22:50, Ibd1Mon99 wrote: I must say this is quite rude for I am sure of two things, the slieghts he uses work very well, most likely better than any of us have the right to judge. second is that the people who generally complaine about the tricks he does are frustrated because they like doing the same trick but now they are getting compared to Blaine. I myself have run into this problem several times. Blaine should not be met with anger, He uses tricks that get reactions, so we must improve our performances.
if i show you a card trick will you really miss your wallet?
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prospero Special user Elsewhere 572 Posts |
Firedice27: I don't think even a 14-year-old would be that stupid
If I may suggest a solution to the Blainiac problem on this forum... Why don't we boycott all the "why blaine is good/bad" threads? |
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NeoMagic Inner circle I have... 2017 Posts |
I was hoping we could all pool resources and buy David Blaine's blanket.
See and download my latest free card-suits-themed desktop wallpaper | HERE
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JasonDean Loyal user 266 Posts |
(There is a marked difference between a professional street magician who does magic for money and a magician who does magic in the street by approaching strangers for no reason except youthful enthusiasm and because they saw David Blaine do it on television.)-marmaduke
I just wanted to say that when I first started to do magic at a young age I had the "shakey hands syndrome". I had know idea on how to get rid of this. Until I decided to face my fears full on. So I went to my local mall about twice a week for about two hours and did nothing but approach strangers all day. This helped ulltimatly get rid of the "shakey hands syndrome". By all means I did not approach this walk up to strangers formula because of Blaine. I did this way before I had any knowledge of who Blaine is or about his t.v. speacials. This was basically an exercise for me. I had nothing but awesome responses from people! That's even without the camera crew. |
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Roland Henning Special user Kiel, Germany 511 Posts |
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On 2004-05-21 05:26, tommy wrote: Have you ever been to a magic convention? |
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Che Regular user 117 Posts |
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On 2004-05-21 01:35, Nikodini wrote: That's what Chris Rock Called him on his "Never Scared" special. That was funny. |
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GypsyPirate Regular user 110 Posts |
David Blaine was my sole inspiration to get into magic. A few years ago I was convinced he had sold his sole to be able to do what I saw him do on his TV specials. I studied him and modeled myself after him. I now know all of the tricks he performs on his televised performances, and am amazed at how successful he has become with such relitively simple material. I wonder why nobody beat him to it; most of his stuff has been around forever.
I will always, however, hold Blaine in very high regards, and am eternally grateful as he introduced me to this wonderful art. Moreover, he makes street magic easier. Now all I have to do is walk up to someone and say, "Have you ever heard of David Blaine?" and instantly everyone is interested. Then when I pull it off, they usually say I am better than Blaine, but that is only because they simply saw him on TV, and this time the cards are in their own hands.
Magic Mark
"How'd you do that?" ... "Very carefully." |
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marmaduke New user 61 Posts |
The fact that he is successful with simple material doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
What does surprise me is the fact that magicians are surprised that simple material is the best. Easily in fact. That should be no surprise. I am surprised that it is a surprise. You will always get a stronger reaction from laymen with the simple stuff. This is a major secret of doing good magic that seems to have eluded so called "magicians" for years. |
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chrisrkline Special user Little Rock 965 Posts |
I think that the professionals out there know the value of simple effects. Certainly, it is something that Vernon preached.
To be honest, most professionals don't think that much about Blaine. He doesn't really do that much to think about. He made a lot of money and maybe some thought about that, but I doubt that many go to bed wailing and gnashing their teeth over it. It seems that it is the newbies who are in such an emotional upheaval over the guy and who become upset when the rest of us don't bow down to his idol.
Chris
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Reis O'Brien Inner circle Seattle, WA 2467 Posts |
Quote:
On 2004-05-23 22:29, GypsyPirate wrote: Ye gods... I don't even know where to begin with this one... Umm... welcome to the Café. |
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abc Inner circle South African in Taiwan 1081 Posts |
This is insane.
There are a lot worse magicians than blaine out there but very few as good as Vernon. You don't need to compare them. Just put all the magicians in a group and rate them and blaine won't feature on the same page as people like Vernon or modern day greats like McBride and Lance Burton (whom I really enjoy watching). But from a financial point of view there are few magicains who could even match Blaine but that was not the initial comment that set half the Café members into cardiavascular palminary resuscitation mode. As for simple stuff and magic I could not agree more. If you haven't studied Dai Vernon you should see the simplistic masterpieces he created or just watch blaine he knows a few of them. |
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
To the majority of the public...there is no Dai Vernon.
There was a Houdini, and some may remember Don Alan, Doug Henning, Mark Wilson... And they will almost all remember by name or face.... David Copperfield and David Blaine. That's the way it is to the public at large. Till the next media star is launched.
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Larry Barnowsky Inner circle Cooperstown, NY where bats are made from 4770 Posts |
It's the difference between familiarity and virtue. Is it better to be the best among your peers or the most recognizable among the crowd?
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abc Inner circle South African in Taiwan 1081 Posts |
I agree with Larry but does David Blaine consider other magicians his peers or does he consider other multi million dollar entertainers like top bands, acters etc his peers.
I am sure he is respected by the TV channels that purchased his show and made millions out of it. It is a question of perception., Therefor I think Vernon is much more respected by most of us on the Café. But I am not convinced that David Blaine really views fellow magicians as his peers anymore. Maybe I am wrong. |
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