It's all about the magic
I don't know why but I just felt the need to state publicly that David Blaine annoys the hell out of me. Criss Angel is starting to gain ground, but as of today, Blaine is still on the top of my list of Most Annoying Magicians.
I don't know if it's the fact he's one of those magicians that over plays the mystical powers part of their illusions, or if it's the fact that his tricks are not actually that good, but his entire act just gets on my nerves.
I'm not saying he's not a good illusionist, he is. Even though I have an understanding of the way in which his magic works, I know I couldn't do it, or at least not as smoothly as he does. It's just that the majority of his tricks are based on the same very simple principles of magic, right out of a standard beginners magic book. If you actually pay attention to his hands, and not where he is directing you to look, you'll often clearly see what he is doing to perform his 'magic'. Live and in person though, that's very hard to do.
There is also the fact that he has lied at least once to make a trick appear better than it was. His levitation trick for example, performed numerous times during one of his specials, was actually made to appear much more than it was using a simple bait and switch technique. He did actually 'levitate' unassisted for the people he showed in his special, to their amazement I'm sure (it can be quite an impressive trick if done properly) but the scenes shown in the special were mostly of him being hoisted by wires after the fact (the people were told it was for demonstration purposes only).
I guess I just respect magicians more who openly claim that what they are doing is a trick and don't try and pretend that it's some form of true magic, especially when half of their tricks use readily available magic props.
Can me a traditionalist, but I like the Lance Burton, David Copperfield (who I have seen live) and Penn and Teller (one of which may be a distant cousin of mine) type magicians. They may sometimes over do it a little on the presentations, but they rarely, if ever, make claims of true mystical powers.
I guess it all comes down to the fact I don't mind being tricked, I just don't like being lied too.
I don't know if it's the fact he's one of those magicians that over plays the mystical powers part of their illusions, or if it's the fact that his tricks are not actually that good, but his entire act just gets on my nerves.
I'm not saying he's not a good illusionist, he is. Even though I have an understanding of the way in which his magic works, I know I couldn't do it, or at least not as smoothly as he does. It's just that the majority of his tricks are based on the same very simple principles of magic, right out of a standard beginners magic book. If you actually pay attention to his hands, and not where he is directing you to look, you'll often clearly see what he is doing to perform his 'magic'. Live and in person though, that's very hard to do.
There is also the fact that he has lied at least once to make a trick appear better than it was. His levitation trick for example, performed numerous times during one of his specials, was actually made to appear much more than it was using a simple bait and switch technique. He did actually 'levitate' unassisted for the people he showed in his special, to their amazement I'm sure (it can be quite an impressive trick if done properly) but the scenes shown in the special were mostly of him being hoisted by wires after the fact (the people were told it was for demonstration purposes only).
I guess I just respect magicians more who openly claim that what they are doing is a trick and don't try and pretend that it's some form of true magic, especially when half of their tricks use readily available magic props.
Can me a traditionalist, but I like the Lance Burton, David Copperfield (who I have seen live) and Penn and Teller (one of which may be a distant cousin of mine) type magicians. They may sometimes over do it a little on the presentations, but they rarely, if ever, make claims of true mystical powers.
I guess it all comes down to the fact I don't mind being tricked, I just don't like being lied too.
posted by Bic at 2:50 a.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home