Collins Key on AGT :: Any comments?

Jan 22, 2012
418
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Hey guys,

So if you guys have been watching America's got Talent then you would know that a teenage magician Collins Key has been performing magic and is getting pretty far into the show. Do you guys have any thoughts on his performances?
 
Aug 16, 2011
141
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Hey guys,

So if you guys have been watching America's got Talent then you would know that a teenage magician Collins Key has been performing magic and is getting pretty far into the show. Do you guys have any thoughts on his performances?

His effects are decent, but I started to dislike him a bit once he said during his Vegas performance that he wanted to be a 'teen heartthrob of magic'...give me a break. I still hope he goes through all the way, since I'm always rooting for a fellow magician, but that teen heartthrob comment he said made me roll my eyes and think less of his true goals.
 
Jan 22, 2012
418
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I agree with what your saying about the teen heartthrob thing. I'm surprised how far he's gone with the small effects that he's performing.
 

CalvinTan

Elite Member
Also agree with the "teen heartthrob thing".

He needs to step it up for the live NYC show. Big stage, big audience. He needs to find a way to connect with not only the live audience, but the people at home. I don't think he's trained in any kind of stage magic so it'll be interesting to see the presentation he uses for whatever he's going to do. It seems like he'll have to go the mentalism route again because that's the best way to fool the audience, judges, and camera when you don't have a big stage act.
 
Sep 1, 2007
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It seems like he'll have to go the mentalism route again because that's the best way to fool the audience, judges, and camera when you don't have a big stage act.

It's also a good way to crash and burn if you don't know what you're doing. Mentalism is much more difficult to pull off, especially when you're not even old enough to buy booze.

This is one of many reasons I don't like reality TV and these contests in particular. I can guarantee you that virtually no one who appears on it has the slightest idea of how to manage yourself as a business, think like an entrepreneur or market your work. It's more than just a hanging a shingle up and waiting to be flooded with money and accolades.
 
Jan 22, 2012
418
1
It's also a good way to crash and burn if you don't know what you're doing. Mentalism is much more difficult to pull off, especially when you're not even old enough to buy booze.

This is one of many reasons I don't like reality TV and these contests in particular. I can guarantee you that virtually no one who appears on it has the slightest idea of how to manage yourself as a business, think like an entrepreneur or market your work. It's more than just a hanging a shingle up and waiting to be flooded with money and accolades.

He did perform a mentalism routine. He did something similar to what Justin Willman performed on the Ellen show. You can obviously tell from the performance, he's having fun with it. Slightly cocky, but having fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qO1bi0pMlCk
 
Sep 1, 2007
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That was a magician's presentation of a mental effect, not pure mentalism. And for God's sake, someone tell him to stop mumbling between lines.
 

CalvinTan

Elite Member
That was a magician's presentation of a mental effect, not pure mentalism. And for God's sake, someone tell him to stop mumbling between lines.

"That's a swagalicious body part" - This was just as bad as the teenage heart throb comment. It actually made me dislike his presentation even more. It's clear he's trying to be "cool" by making these comments, but right now it's putting the presentation off. He'd probably be better off being himself and less arrogant in his presentation. It's important to be confidant, but the way his character is portrayed, the arrogant nature of his presentation doesn't fit him.

Anyway, I do like how he modernized the Master Prediction System by Malloy Modern Magic with the whole twitter hashtag presentation. Kudos to him for choosing this to get him to the next round, however I don't see him able to top this. He probably could have done a less impressive trick (judging from the competition he was up against that night) and gotten through.

I'm rooting for him anyway. It must be tough on him, especially since he's primary a close-up magician, forced to perform stage magic. What's next? Perhaps the bill in egg/lemon/orange. I can see that working for him in terms of the wow factor as a step up from what he's done so far. Ir just needs to be presented right.
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
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"That's a swagalicious body part" - This was just as bad as the teenage heart throb comment.

If I could have one word stricken from the English language, "swag" would be pretty high on the list of candidates.

It actually made me dislike his presentation even more. It's clear he's trying to be "cool" by making these comments, but right now it's putting the presentation off. He'd probably be better off being himself and less arrogant in his presentation. It's important to be confidant, but the way his character is portrayed, the arrogant nature of his presentation doesn't fit him.

It's clear he's not very comfortable in his own skin. On the other hand, social awkwardness doesn't hold a candle to how obnoxious it is to watch forced coolness.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
It's clear he's not very comfortable in his own skin. On the other hand, social awkwardness doesn't hold a candle to how obnoxious it is to watch forced coolness.

Yeah, but Kyle Eschen already has the 'awkward teenage magician' thing and he does it better than anyone else I've seen try it.

I can't stand AGT and never watch it so I have no idea about these performances. But it sounds like they're doing to him what they've done to every other magician who's made it any distance. Letting him get a bit into the show so they can say they're giving magicians a fair chance, too, only to axe him when he gets anywhere serious to allow the next singer or dance crew to move up. AGT is about creating a show and as far as I can tell they just can't figure out what to do with a magician.
 
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Sep 1, 2007
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Yeah, but Kyle Eschen already has the 'awkward teenage magician' thing and he does it better than anyone else I've seen try it.

Not saying he should ape Eschen's schtick. Just that watching someone be genuinely socially awkward is far, far less painful than watching a fool who thinks he's brilliant.

As for reality TV, part of the problem comes from the fact that it's reality only in the most lenient sense of the word. Reaction shots are copy-pasted from entirely different scenes to manufacture tension, events are staged weeks in advance to give the people on-camera something "zany" to do, and that narrative you see on TV is seldom anything remotely like what really happened because the producers thought it wasn't dramatic enough.

AGT really just wants the American Idol crowd. But Ellen Degeneres also showed that variety shows are still viable, so the producers are trying to have both. They make you think you're watching a variety show, when really it's just another TV singing contest because, like you said, they're already really good at doing those.
 
Jun 10, 2012
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i really like him and what hes doing? THE TEEN heartthrob thing shouldnt be important to us.He is making magic "cool"
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
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He is making magic "cool"

By appearing as a contestant on a reality show that no one is going to remember in 6 months? And seriously, does our magic really suck so badly that we need that pedestrian performance to make us look good? Speak for yourself.
 
Sep 9, 2011
45
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CA
To me, that mentalism routine was a little bit too much like Justin Willman's. I mean, it's cool to do the same trick, but the exact same presentation? And after Willman has already performed it on Ellen? I don't know, it seemed like he watched Justin Willman's performance and said "Hey, I'll just do that, but add 'swag' after every other word I say!"

He lost me last night.
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
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Northampton, MA - USA
That was a magician's presentation of a mental effect, not pure mentalism. And for God's sake, someone tell him to stop mumbling between lines.

First of all, the routine he did last night wasn't "Mentalism" it was "Mental Magic" -- the routine was developed by Dick Zimmerman, a magician for his magic show, for starters. I did love his idea of swapping the normal table that goes with the effect with the ladder, very clever. But yes, he is following the mold of doing lots of Mental Styled routines and given his age I can forgive some of that. But, if a kid his age can afford an effect that cost nearly $3 grand I'm betting he could do the big stage stuff too. . . nothing like cute little rich kids that can afford the teachers & coaches.

When it comes to the whole "Teen Idol" thing; he's not the first nor will he be the last. In the 80s there were several Castle Jr types that were pushing for that role and they had the looks, just lacked the clout for getting there; it's very difficult to do unless you have a film or Tv show where you're seen regularly. To my knowledge David Copperfield is the only magician to come close to this status because he was in his teens when he was first getting noticed.
 
Sep 1, 2007
3,786
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But, if a kid his age can afford an effect that cost nearly $3 grand I'm betting he could do the big stage stuff too. . . nothing like cute little rich kids that can afford the teachers & coaches.

In this way the show really does mirror real life. The ones who get all the attention are the drama queens and the rich kids, leaving everyone else out in the cold. Then when the whole thing is over, those same popular kids are forgotten a few months later when the people who previously exalted them get back to their lives.

That's ever so slightly depressing, don't you think?
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
In this way the show really does mirror real life. The ones who get all the attention are the drama queens and the rich kids, leaving everyone else out in the cold. Then when the whole thing is over, those same popular kids are forgotten a few months later when the people who previously exalted them get back to their lives.

That's ever so slightly depressing, don't you think?

I watched too many of the "pretty ones" sink into self-destructive paths, especially once the cute starts to wane and age comes into the picture. I had a tough time with this because I was that clean faced (peach fuzz) boy next door well into my late 20s (I was still getting carded in bars at 28 and 29 I looked so young). While I certainly wasn't the poor little rich kid, I was certainly one blessed with prop access and general support when I was Collin's age -- cute can take you a long way. . .

Fame, especially of the show biz variety, is a dangerous mistress that can and usually will scar the psyche; just ask Luke Jermay or any other successful individual in this or certain other fields, why they woke up one day and just walked away from it all?
 

CalvinTan

Elite Member
To me, that mentalism routine was a little bit too much like Justin Willman's. I mean, it's cool to do the same trick, but the exact same presentation? And after Willman has already performed it on Ellen? I don't know, it seemed like he watched Justin Willman's performance and said "Hey, I'll just do that, but add 'swag' after every other word I say!"

He lost me last night.

I just looked up Justin's performance on Ellen. I take back what I said about liking that he modernized the trick, after seeing him copy the same presentation from Justin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOU2WXaDEs0


"I did love his idea of swapping the normal table that goes with the effect with the ladder, very clever."

Craig, the trick is sold with the ladder as an option if you don't want the table.

http://www.malloymodernmagic.com/proddetail.php?prod=MasterPredictionSystem

Scroll over to picture 6.

It just seems like he did the trick right out of the box (no pun intended) with the stolen performance of Justin. I know a ton of magicians that do tricks out of the box, and even borrow elements of other magicians presentation ideas (which is a gray area in magic), but I do have an issue with him pretty much stealing Justin's presentation of the trick on national television.

Here's a recent blog by Jeff McBride on stuff like this:

http://blog.mcbridemagic.com/2013/04/
 
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