Favorite Magicians

[deBergerac]

I really like mentalism so on my list I would put up:

Banachek
Derren Brown
Luke Jermay
Andy Nyman

(Two of these were at TAM5 and it would be good if more of them could be more involved in scepticism. Andy has been taking a lot of heat because he has very strong ideas about psychics. Derren is also open with that he thinks people should think more critical concerning "paranormal" stuff. Luke does things you would not believe.)

 

[KingMerv00]

Richard Pitchford (AKA Cardini).

He wore gloves. Nuff eaid.

 

[Brown]

Richard Pitchford (AKA Cardini).

He wore gloves. Nuff [said].

Although he's not my favorite, I cannot help but marvel when I see films of him working in gloves. Darn, I wish there was some really clear footage of him; most of it seems grainy. There are some performers (I won't name names) who actually rely upon the "grainy-ness" of film and television to hide their dirty work, but I understand Cardini was not one of them.

 

[aofl]

Let's see...

Tommy Wonder. I own his video set and watching him destroy an audience with his Ambitious Card routine gave me goose-bumps.

David Roth. Attended a lecture of his. Very patient, very good teacher. Awesome chops.

Jeff McBride. I'm not into all the dance and costume stuff, but I am a total sucker for card manipulation.

David Copperfield blew me away when he came through my home town when I was a kid.

Penn & Teller of course.

Mac King. Hilarious.

Ricky Jay.

A

 

[Bob Klase]

I like all the good ones. It's almost impossible to pick just one- even difficult to pick the top 10.

But I'll add a few that I like who haven't shown up in this thread:

Fred Kaps (all round incredible magician and the only one to ever win 3 times at FISM)
Garrett Thomas- even watching him live you'd almost swear that some of his stuff must be trick photography
Michael Close
Del Ray

 

[QueigBladecaster]

The problem is that I appreiciate different things from different acts, so picking a favorite is very tough. but any list would have to include....

Penn & Teller
Jeff McBride
The Pendragons
Derren Brown
Harry Eng (stretching a point maybe but incredible just the same)
Max Maven

Better stop now or I could be here all night

 

[firecoins]

the late Billy McComb
the late Jay Marshall

Jeremy Meadows
Magik Bailey - former Marlborogh magician
Joel Bauer - trade magician
Steve Cohen - the millionaire's magician
Eugene Burger - a real wizard
Eric Mead - top, top, top card guy
Ted Lesley - German mentalist

 

[BPScooter]

Thanks for all these names! I found these nice quotes from Eric Mead's writeup in the Aspen Times. I think they sum up some of the gist of the biscuit as I've seen it expressed here:

"Mead says that the oft-repeated phrase of "the hand being quicker than the eye" is not, in fact, the essence of magic.

"Speed is not it," he said. "What it is, is consciously manipulating the way people see and experience events. It's like a puzzle where pieces are withheld. You're being prevented from seeing something, or you're forced to interpret it incorrectly. That makes the magic seem to be in violation of natural law."

The term "misdirection" - distracting the viewer's attention from the actual trick - is likewise inapt. "What you're really doing is directing their attention, keeping it exactly where you want it at all times," said Mead. "If people were made to feel like they looked in the wrong place, the illusion works. But the experience of mystery is gone."

 

[firecoins]

I just want to mention Eric Mead again.

also
mentalist Marc Salem
David Regal

2 mentalists & a.k.a's
Max Maven/Phil Goldstein
Banachek/ Steve Shaw
Jas Jakutch/Gary Kurtz

Michael Ammar
Persi Diaconis
Jason Born
Joshua Jay
Mike Close
Doc Eason
Homer Liwag/Chris Kenner

Alan "Ace" Greenburg

 

[Unalienable]

David Blaine is worth mentioning. That boy has skills.

From his first TV special he does the trick that goes by several names, usually "Two card monte" (I think it has origins in a trick called "What is it, really?"), he does this trick to a black guy who must weigh 300 pounds. Now this guy was NOT going to be fooled. He was ready to cross Blaine up at the first opportunity, you could tell he had a real chip on his shoulder. He wanted to show Blaine and all his "homies" that he's not one to be fooled.

I love that trick to death but I choose my spectators very carefully. I would go for a women every time with that one, preferably a timid lamb of a spectator. You don't want to do this to somebody who is trying to turn cards over at the wrong time and cross you up while you do it, because while they won't uncover the secret they'll certainly ruin the effect.

Going into the heart of Compton and picking a guy who looks like a linebacker with a bad attitude ... that's just insane!! The spectator control he exerted over this guy was a psychological display of brilliance. They way he waited for him to turn a card over when he wasn't supposed to, to drive home the idea that nothing fishy was going on, the way he says "Now hold tight!!" to prevent him from turning over later, he even had to fight the guy at one point to wrestle a card out of his hand, but in the end everything worked out perfectly.

Blaine also gets a lot of flack for his "deadpan" patter, like he's stoned or something, but if you notice Blaine knows when and how to turn the volume up. When the magic starts happening he goes from deadpan zombie to animated and hyper, and you can't help but to get caught up in the moment. His presentation is all about contrasts and I think he does it brilliantly.

A lot of magicians, including pros, put David Blaine down--usually for stupid technical reasons. Yeah, so maybe his double lift isn't worn smooth after decades of practice, but I think he's got a class-A act going. I just wish he'd give up all these Houdini death-defying endurance stunts and get back to the cards and coins that made him famous.

 

[Bob Klase]

From his first TV special he does the trick that goes by several names, usually "Two card monte" (I think it has origins in a trick called "What is it, really?"),

The name of the trick is "Be Honest- What Is It?" by Eddie Fechter. Blaine's "Two card monte" doesn't just have origins in Fechter's trick- it is "Be Honest- What Is It?".

A lot of magicians, including pros, put David Blaine down--usually for stupid technical reasons.

And a lot of magicians have valid reasons for not liking Blaine (and an inability to do basic sleights well can be a good reason). At the same time, a lot of people build Blaine up for the simple reason that they haven't seen any good magicians to compare him to. Makes no difference- everybody's entitled to their opinion.

 

[fredcarr]

Darwin Ortiz - His books brought me up to a respectable level.

Tommy Wonder - His stuff showed me a level I'll never attain.

Swain - Great routines

 

[kinkymagic]

Tommy Wonder - His stuff showed me a level I'll never attain.

Did somebody say 'Wonder'?

Truly the greatest magician to ever live, how he baked himself into that loaf of bread I'll never know. Jerry Sadowitz is also pretty good.

 

[Unalienable]

Richard Pitchford (AKA Cardini).

I have endless respect for him but the problem is, that I've only seen one sample of footage to prove his skills. AND WHAT FOOTAGE IT IS!!! There's nobody alive who can match what I saw on some grainy old television broadcast.

I think what I like most about him is not the technical skills, which are obviously impeccable, but his entire attitude. He never presented himself as superior to the audience, the classic "Look at me, I am a super man, I can do things you cannot do." Instead he presented a world haunted by magical demons that would taunt and torment him. He really wanted to get rid of those damn cigarettes but they just kept multiplying and reappearing in his hand, his mouth, etc.

It's a little bit like the sorcerer's apprentice scene from Fantasia: the magician who was in over his head, trying to fight off the forces of magic that had slipped beyond his control.

 

[BPScooter]

I'm really fascinated by Cardini, too--he came up on another thread in this corner a year ago or so. I did some web clicking and found out some neat stuff, his son I think has a good tribute site that I learned a lot from. I believe he would entertain himself in the trenches of WWI by practicing sleights with a deck of cards, hour after hour, with gloves on because it was cold! He was wounded, and in the hospital (I can only imagine in what kind of physical and mental pain) asked for a deck of cards when he recovered sufficiently. Maybe I'm romanticizing it a bit, and most of you probably know more of the story than that, but I find that really moving. Just the general sense of futility I associate with the tedious trench warfare, and the image of a wounded soldier in a hospital bed asking for a deck of cards, seem rather surreal to me.

 

[CB1]

Best magicain has got to be Dean Tavaloris. His rountine with the camera is brilliant!

CB

 

[DeVega]

Wow! So many great names I've never yet heard off, for me to explore! Thanks!

I have to say, I'm a complete sucker for magic & I don't think I've ever seen a live magic performance I didn't enjoy...

I saw Siegfried & Roy at the Mirage - shortly before the whole unfortunate tiger incident - I know they were OTT but I loved 'em & all that razzle dazzle! They made a freakin' elephant vanish! How cool is that? (Yeah, even though the dammed 'Masked Magician' ruined it for me before I could switch over)
Also in Vegas - saw the Pendragons, who were fabulous, in the (sadly now defunct, Ceasar's Magical Empire - that place was awesome!) I saw a close-up Israeli spoon-bender magician too on the same evening...

More recently, have come to admire Derren Brown - although he's definately going to lose me as a viewer if he keeps doing that freaky clown act... [shudder]

And, don't hate me, but I actually like Criss Angel & I imagine he's bringing a younger crowd to magic (even if he IS older than he looks! ;-)