WSJ: Has Magic Lost Its Magic?

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Good article in today's WSJ. You probably need a subscription to access it online (which I have), but some stuff may be available for free.

Or you can look for the print edition.

[Cain]

Finally found it. Kind of a lame article. I quote the last part because it deals with my main man, Ricky Jay (you've seen him in David Mamet movies; he also narrated Magnolia).

Indeed, you can watch "Magic Secrets Revealed" several times and still not know what hit you when Ricky Jay begins his act. Last year, I went to see Mr. Jay, perhaps the greatest living sleight-of-hand artist. He knows precisely how to draw the audience in, telling witty stories and performing illusions with the greatest of ease.

In one instance, he has a volunteer write her initials on a card and shuffles it back into a deck but is later unable to locate the marked card. He then has the woman open a new pack of cards, one of which bears her initials. (A burly fellow, Mr. Jay is also wonderfully self- deprecating, as when he mentions the Great Malini, a classic conjurer, who supposedly made his wife appear out of a cup, while Mr. Jay himself, as hard as he has tried, cannot even get married.)

In a 1993 New Yorker essay, author Mark Singer describes a card illusion by Ricky Jay as being done "in a manner so simple, natural and miraculous as to render prestidigitation invisible, thereby raising the strong possibility of divine intervention." It is Mr. Jay's mission, writes Mr. Singer, "to reignite our collective sense of wonder." And this he has done, despite not having held his breath under water for seven minutes.

The key to good magic, explains Frank Casto, is not the trick itself but rather the way it is performed. "Many magicians have a hard time learning this, that you can't just buy the latest trick and wow the audience." It's not easy to get this message across to young magicians, notes Mr. Casto. "When you get into magic . . . you want all the latest toys, and that's not really where it's at. It's really taking one thing and learning to present it in an entertaining way."

Mr. Dallas, meanwhile, is optimistic that magic will make a comeback. One reason is that he has heard all this talk of magic's demise before. One of his colleagues assembled a collection of articles, all of which posed the same question: Is Magic dead? The articles dated back for centuries.

[Dave1001]

I've never been into magic, illusions, sleight of hand. More interested in enlightenment, and when I want diversion, I usually watch a movie, tv, orge play on the internet. But I loved Randi's books about confronting Uri and others, because they were great stories. Same with Penn & Teller's show B*llsh*t. Very, very, entertaining. I think most successful entertainers could just get on a stage and tell stories, and they'd be just as successful, even if they never picked up a violin, a deck of cards, or some such other thing.

[Almo]

I still find a trick that I haven't seen very impressive, even though I know it's trickery. I desperately try not to be tricked, or to think of when the trick happened. But I almost always miss it. :)

[The Central Scrutinizer]

I quote the last part because it deals with my main man, Ricky Jay (you've seen him in David Mamet movies; he also narrated Magnolia).

He's also a member of PTA's regular troop of actors.

[Alareth]

Forgive me, but what does WSJ stand for?

[Bob Klase]

Forgive me, but what does WSJ stand for?

Wall Street Journal.

[Alareth]

Wall Street Journal.

Ahhhh ...

I thoght it was referenceing a magicians magazine I was unaware of. :rolleyes:

[Josh Redstone]

I don't think magic has lost it's magic, but it's changing nonetheless.
Consider magicians who are very popular with the public these days like David Blaine, or Criss Angel. Both of them don't limit themselves to magic. Angel also plays music, and David Blaine likes to do his 'endurance stunts'. Penn & teller are another good example with their Bullsh*t! show.
I guess what I'm saying magaicians should be diverse. Don't just limit yourself to magic if you want to make a name for yourself. Instead, I think magicians should think of themselves as entertainers, with magic as their main tool for entertainment, supplimenting their act with other cool stuff.

[Dave1001]

Ahhhh ...

I thoght it was referenceing a magicians magazine I was unaware of. :rolleyes:

Bush Sr. might say the editorial pages are more about voodoo than magic:p

[Almo]

Bush Sr. might say the editorial pages are more about voodoo than magic:p

Caught you! A post at 2:49... get back to work.

[firecoins]

Penn Jillette has a radio show too.

I do magic but I am also a stand up comic. I prefer performing comedy over magic but in rare occasions I get to do both which is fantastic.

[Crowbot]

Don't just limit yourself to magic if you want to make a name for yourself.

Reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite comedians "Mitch Hedburg":

I got into comedy to do comedy, which is weird, I know. But when you're in Hollywood and you're a comedian everybody wants you to do other things besides comedy. They say, "Alright, you're a standup comedian. Can you act? Can you write? Write us a script." They want me to do things that's related to comedy but not comedy. That's not fair. It's as though I was a cook, and I worked my ass off to become a really good cook, and they said, "Alright, you're a cook... Can you farm?"

[santapg]

The Young generation, in the megical field, do not want to learn the subject, but want to perform it. I have spended 7 years in magic, but yet i am a learner, I dont think i have become a performer, I generally perform close up & impromptu magic, renovative magic can never die.

Sandip Golani santapg@dataone.in Kolkata - India

[robinson]

I still enjoy magic. YouTube and the like have allowed plenty of new magic to show up. Amazing stuff.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-614999075705129371&q=magic&hl=en

Can you tell how he does it?

And then there is just plain whack stuff, like this

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3030582436688674946&q=magic&hl=en

Now thats magic.

[robinson]

http://www.filecabi.net/video/magician-cyril22.html

This stuff just amazes me.

[Josh Redstone]

http://www.filecabi.net/video/magician-cyril22.html

This stuff just amazes me.


Ah, Cyril. He's great - probably one of the best mainstream names in magic currently performing.