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Favorite Magicians

Paul Daniels gets more entertainment out of a cup and a ball than most magicians can dream of.
I don't think it's an over exaggeration to say he is one of the best entertainers.
 
any body who's tricks I can not figure out.

I always enjoyed a good magic show, but I am usually the quiet one in the corner who enjoys thinking up ways to explain what I just saw. I have gotten some strange looks from magicians as if their saying "why do I get the feeling you know my trick" its almost as if they are waiting for me to expose them. I figure its just a good show why should I ruin it, he claims to be an illusionist and I enjoy a good illusion just as much as the next guy. So I just smile back and quietly enjoy the show.

as for my favorite magicians, who ever fools me the best
 
firecoins said:
David Williamson
Ricky Jay who was directed by David Mamet
David Roth
David Regal

It seems I have a predispostion to people named David.
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And bizarrely you didn't even include David Blaine or David Copperfield. What is it with magical Davids? (I grew up on David Nixon).

Surprised only one person mentioned Penn and Teller. They are the masters of the "reveal", looking at old tricks in a new way, and just being completely entertaining. What David Blaine thought he was doing hanging over the River Thames, I don't know, but I certainly wasn't exactly engaged. Nor did I give a monkeys when he came out, since that was what he was always going to do.
 
firecoins said:
but were they magicians? Skeptic, as skeptical as they are, are not fluent in the methods & can still be fooled.
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firecoins, the point was that nobody could see how it was done. They were skeptics who were "fooled", but they weren't "fooled" to the extent of really believing that real magic was involved, whether they were magicians or not.
 
Larry Lovage said:
firecoins, the point was that nobody could see how it was done. They were skeptics who were "fooled", but they weren't "fooled" to the extent of really believing that real magic was involved, whether they were magicians or not.
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my point being skeptics are in no way harder to fool by good magicians.
 
Ricky Jay's books cover stunts, I used inter-library loan from my local college to get his book on the fire-eaters, etc. I think his point is clear, that "stunt-craft" sometimes relies on amazing physique, sometimes Trickery. Some tricks are easier than others, at some times in history, with certain belief structures shared and played upon by the Tricker.

Is anybody using a cell phone as a prop in a demonstration of psychic ability? What activities/behaviors would freak people out? "Put your phone in the lead box, it rings by itself... or "here's an unprogrammed phone, it will now call your number"... if you can freak anyone out with a cell phone, without detection of method, you will be a Freak Master.

Problem with that is that everybody is so used to having these things that nothing too weird seems "magic" any more. Action at a distance is commonplace, now. Some bitchin' magician will figure out something, though.
 
BPScooter said:
Is anybody using a cell phone as a prop in a demonstration of psychic ability? What activities/behaviors would freak people out? "Put your phone in the lead box, it rings by itself... or "here's an unprogrammed phone, it will now call your number"... if you can freak anyone out with a cell phone, without detection of method, you will be a Freak Master.

Problem with that is that everybody is so used to having these things that nothing too weird seems "magic" any more. Action at a distance is commonplace, now. Some bitchin' magician will figure out something, though.
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It already has. Magicians use cell phones in tricks, to reveal things like selected cards.
 
firecoins said:
It already has. Magicians use cell phones in tricks, to reveal things like selected cards.
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In his show Criss Angel did a segment where he took someone's cell phone and put it in a beer bottle. He then had someone call it to prove that it was the correct cell phone.
 
OK, sounds like we're on the right track. I sometimes start with the exercise of imagining the seemingly impossible, and then figuring out what combination of preparation, presentation, and maybe luck would make it seem like it was really happening. I brought up cell phones because now everyone is used to the idea of multiple communicators on private frequencies, so stuff like Popoff's act wouldn't be so likely to work. Man, a couple of cell phones could have looked like miracles not so long ago, kind of like Twain's knights on bicycles in Connecticut Yankee.

We don't need to continue the idea, but it is fun to think about. What could a magician have an unprepared cell phone "do" that would seem magic? Maybe have the person set it on to 'vibrate' mode and then hold it over cards (or pictures of dead people, or whatever) and then have it vibrate in the person's own hand to select. How one would do that might be difficult. maybe have a prepared jiggly table and put the phone down, like a ouija pointer. Somehow just sending or recieving a message doesn't feel likely to fool anyone, to me. Seems like all of it would take some cleverness, preparation, and luck.
 
I am adding Banacheck to the list. He is a top notch mentalist, fooled scientists into believing he was real, designed P&T's bullet catching effect and most importantly, I am learning his metal bending material.
 
firecoins said:
the magician who fools you or the one who fools you best? Who would like a magician who does not fool you at all?
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I enjoy any well done magic act, even the guy that does the linking rings at a kids birthday party. Yeah, I know how it's done, but good stagecraft, engaging and original patter, and the indefinable ability to pull an audience along is very entertaining to watch, and even get caught up in.
 
joesixpack said:
I enjoy any well done magic act, even the guy that does the linking rings at a kids birthday party. Yeah, I know how it's done, but good stagecraft, engaging and original patter, and the indefinable ability to pull an audience along is very entertaining to watch, and even get caught up in.
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yes. that is certainly true.
 
Agreed, conjuring is more than a method, it's a real-time (phenomenological, socially constructed) experience. None of its elements are more important than the other, but like a three-legged stool stands sturdily on all.

I didn't know Banachek worked out the bullet catch for/with P&T. It's damned impressive, mystifying, scary, but still safe (I told myself, why have these guys done this happily 6 shows a week and no end in sight, if it was so darned "iffy"???). But the magic stool held, I found myself squinting and cringing as they were about to pull triggers.
 
BPScooter said:
Agreed, conjuring is more than a method, it's a real-time (phenomenological, socially constructed) experience. None of its elements are more important than the other, but like a three-legged stool stands sturdily on all.

I didn't know Banachek worked out the bullet catch for/with P&T. It's damned impressive, mystifying, scary, but still safe (I told myself, why have these guys done this happily 6 shows a week and no end in sight, if it was so darned "iffy"???). But the magic stool held, I found myself squinting and cringing as they were about to pull triggers.
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Banachek came up with P&T's method which they used with his permission. It was originally something he was doing. P&T came up with their own presentation.
 
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Phil Goldstein is not only a talented inventor/refiner of effects but his stage presence straddles that thin line between campy silliness and the mysterious mage. Wonderfully talented guy.
Eugene Burger is another great magician. He can take old timey classics like the rising card, cut and restored string, or three card monte and hone them into performance art.
And Ricky Jay of course!

....there are tons of others....
 
I prefer the old magicians like Tommy cooper, Paul Daniels and James Freedman. Might not be up to the standard today but still entertaining to watch the old re-runs.
 
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