I was curious if I could start a post on David Blaine's t.v. special and card trick he did with Harrison ford
david Blaine t.v. special
- Thread starter markymagic6666
- Start date
Uh... okay? Just so you know, we don't talk about methodology here. This forum is open to the public so we have to be really cloak and dagger about the mechanics of it all. So technically you're not allowed to tell us what those theories are.
Was there anything else you wanted to talk about on the subject? Performance theory, maybe? Magic for celebrities? Because I'm not sure what else to tell you. I really don't know where you originally planned to go with this.
Was there anything else you wanted to talk about on the subject? Performance theory, maybe? Magic for celebrities? Because I'm not sure what else to tell you. I really don't know where you originally planned to go with this.
Of course i wouldnt tell anyone. im sure all true card magicians out there have already figured it out. just so many forums out there saying it was fake and h.f was in on the trick is crazy. i think most of the special was real except for one trick he did.but that wouldnt be the harrison ford effect.which was a great trick. everyone like the special ?
The trick he did with Ford was a really old trick. It's been around for ages.
Which one are you thinking was not 'real'?
I think some people are a little rough on the question "How did Blaine do it?" I would like to say that even though I'm not a 100% working professional magician I'd like to think Blaine is flattered by the amount of upcoming talent that will be stirred up by this special. Of course some of us want to perform it "just like Blaine" just like guitar players want to play "just like Eddie Van Halen". Why? Because it's a level of competency in our heads. The little glimpse of what it must be like to be that famous artist, magician, musician, actor is what makes us move forward and eventually discover ourselves. Sure 7 years ago I wanted to perform the ambitious card routine just like David did, and guess what, I DID! I got great reactions and I felt good about myself. Some of us aren't worried about being compared because we will never be David Blaine or Criss Angel or David Copperfield. Why are tribute bands so popular? Because you may never get to see the real thing so you go see the next best thing. I'm not saying you should live your life to be someone else, but you have to strive to be the idol you have, who ever it may be.
The thing is Eddie doesn't play it the same way twice. This is one of my favorite things on finding your own voice in magic from Ricky Jay...
"A guy comes up and starts telling me he's a fan," he recalls. "I say thank you, that's nice to hear. He says he used to see me perform in Boulder, Colorado. That's nice, too, I say. Then he starts talking about this wonderful piece I did with a mechanical monkey, really one of the most bizarre routines I ever worked out, and I thank him, and he says, `Yeah, I get a tremendous response when I do that. Audiences just love it.' And I say, `Let me ask you something. Suppose I invite you over to my house for dinner. We have a pleasant meal, we talk about magic, it's an enjoyable evening. Then, as you're about to leave, you walk into my living room and you pick up my television and walk out with it. You steal my television set. Would you do that?' He says, `Of course not.' And I say, `But you already did.' He says, `What are you talking about?' I say, `You stole my television!' He says, `How can you say that? I've never even been to your house.' This guy doesn't even know what a metaphor is. People ask me why I don't do lectures at magic conventions, and I say, `Because I'm still learning.' Meanwhile, you've got people who have been doing magic for ten months and they are actually out there pontificating. It's absurd."
Secrets of the Magus
from the New Yorker Magazine 1993
by Mark Singer
In the end we all steal something from someone, who stole it from someone who stole it from someone. That's evolution. Eddie always plays the essentials the same. Every time. If he did not, no one would recognize the song. Also, there's another reason cover bands exist. I'm not trying to offend anyone but really? I could care less if someone would perform an effect I did. 90% of what David performs is available for sale anyways. I doubt Daniel Garcia cares if you perform Fraud. I just was under the impression that magicians weren't as stuck up as this. If someone wants to copy someone else then let them. We all copy something everyday whether it's our clothing, cars, cards, tricks, phones. We all do something cause we liked how it worked for someone else.
Listen to the live solos from Eddie, SRV, Clapton, BB Albert and Freddie King ect ect. Every time the solo is different so no they do not play the same every time.
The reason I care if someone does my effects with the same patter and the same style is because it is my style my voice my creativity. When I was first starting to do my stand up show another working magician in town lifted the entire act down to my look. He showed up to the next Ring meeting after I did my show for the first time dressed just like me. Was even using the same Stud cards that I was using at the time.
Guys who are out there making a living busting their butts to pay the bills doing what they love do care is someone is aping their routine. It means someone else is out there making money off of their work and 90% of the time doing it poorly and for less money. They are stealing from us something we spent years building. It waters down our potential for making a living when they can get someone else doing the same act (poorly) for less money.
I'm really not going to argue with you because you aren't really reading what I'm saying anyways. Since I'm here though, of course guitar solos can vary slightly but the tapping in eruption is always there, the solo in house is rockin from srv always had similar licks and signature parts. It's not all random. I'm not trying to offend you. The guy that copied your whole act is not what I'm talking about. That's very different from creating based on a certain likeness or idea. If someone is ripping your act then that's a whole different thing. If I do a fork bend, it's going to be similar to someone else's fork bend. If I sing a song on stage, the chord progression will be identical to something that's been done before. There's a big difference between copying an entire act and paying homage to someone. There will always be someone cheaper than you. There's always someone willing to do a show cheaper. It happens. People cut corners and you any stop that so please don't take it out on someone doing a boxed effect from an online site or tv special.
But why does your fork bend need to be the like someone else's presentation? Look at Justin Wilmin's ID from The Tonight Show. That was original. It wasn't the same old thing that the kids do. He took time to put that together. Now that he has done it we will see kids doing it the same. The other problem is with all of this "Blaine like" is you do your ID like Blaine and your ACAAN like Dan Harlan and your McDonald's Aces like Ricky Jay your style and patter changes between effects. You sound like the magician who's style you are doing. There is no flow to the act.
As for someone doing it cheaper? Yeah there is always a hack doing it cheaper and it causes issues for the full time working guys. It hurts them even more when they guys doing it cheaper are doing parts of their act.
Guitar players doing it the same every time?
I give you Layla...
Studio
[video=youtube;Th3ycKQV_4k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th3ycKQV_4k[/video]
Unplugged.
[video=youtube;1Y9T15kAF8U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y9T15kAF8U[/video]
Eric Clapton & Wynton Marsalis
[video=youtube;1cBdEteQGQg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cBdEteQGQg[/video]
Same song same guy three totally different takes on it. Why? Because he likes to change things up and be creative.
There is also a significant difference between "paying homage" and "copying". Furthermore, it's also a whole different ball game when someone points out where something is not original and the poster continues leaving it up as if it were their own. That's just crappy.
As lazy as I think it is, I can at least understand the concept of not doing the thorough research before posting something as one's own. But I cannot understand the pure, self-centeredness of having it pointed out and still saying, "Nope, don't care."
As lazy as I think it is, I can at least understand the concept of not doing the thorough research before posting something as one's own. But I cannot understand the pure, self-centeredness of having it pointed out and still saying, "Nope, don't care."