In Search of Street Magic By: Jamy Ian Swiss

[TKH]

I believe this was posted quite a while ago on a certain "magic shop"'s forum, and was deleted, as they do most things. This an excellent article from Jamy Ian Swiss' column The Honest Liar from the Magazine Antimony.

http://www.antinomymagic.com/honestliar_print.htm

This is for all you, street magicians!

 

[vipermagic]

Ok, half of that was just an attack on Brad Christian and E

 

[wesley11221]

I assume you have a low opinion of criss angel.

 

[KatieKenner]

Jamy Ian Swiss has always had a knack for negativity. Think about that next time you perform street magic.

Another profound thought of the day.

Katie Egleston

 

[wilfred]

Jamy says every truth about today's magic generation.

 

[Anthony Bass]

Jamy Ian Swiss has always had a knack for negativity. Think about that next time you perform street magic.

Another profound thought of the day.

Katie Egleston

Hmm......thought provoking. I've actually never heard of the guy. Is he Swiss (oooh.....trying to be funny.....gimme a break)?

He could be talking about gummy bears and be like "Yeah....they're just too damn tasty. Too tasty to be likeable at that."

Didn't like the article personally.

 

[drorange]

i liked it myself as it was all the truth. E is ruining magic as he says by saying magic can be easy and quick. when i first started in magic like most of us i did use E i bought tricks and performed them and was surprised i didn't get the results shown on the dvds. i must admit when i first watched ninja and how brad was 'teaching' us how to make the pass invisible and then the whole dvd leads to the vegas card tricks where you reveal the pass anyway. The only trick i still use from the E days is 2CM but its not like its an E effect. At least now we have Theory11 that doesn't proomise instant results.

 

[MaxDeVill]

To me it sounds like the standard:

"You punk kids and your loud music, and your t-shirts, and baggy pants and piercings! Get a haircut and get a real job!"

So if the youth of yesterday and today are only chasing "cool" then the elders of Yesterday and Today are still stuffy old farts.

 

[cards88]

To me it sounds like the standard:

"You punk kids and your loud music, and your t-shirts, and baggy pants and piercings! Get a haircut and get a real job!"

So if the youth of yesterday and today are only chasing "cool" then the elders of Yesterday and Today are still stuffy old farts.

He dosen't just say that. He has good arguments to back it up.

 

[TKH]

Jamy Ian Swiss has always had a knack for negativity. Think about that next time you perform street magic.

Another profound thought of the day.

Katie Egleston

Perform street magic? I'd like to see how many people, actually perform street magic, They obviously don't use a camera crew, since I don't see their videos in the media section, When you guys shot your dvds, you had cameras which allowed people to react better and stay and not Borat you.

I think it speaks the truth.

I agree he was kind of an a** to E and Brad Christian, but he spoke his mind.

 

[MaxDeVill]

I perform for people on the street all the time. Its all about where you go to do it. If you just run up and hassle a random guy on his way to work, probably not a good idea. But if you goto the shopping district of a city on a saturday afternoon, people are very receptive. Or even better, catch people waiting outside of a movie theater for their movie to start or their friends/parents/etc to pick them up. If someone is already in the mood to be entertained, then you will have a much easier time finding someone to entertain.

As for recording, of course people are going to overreact on camera. Its human nature to do so. Do I film when I perform? Occasionally. Do I perform for me? No. I perform in order to entertain.

 

[Mat La Vore]

I thought it was a great read. He wrote a really thorough, well-thought out article, and argued all of his points very well. Of course, I don't agree with anything he said, but it was still a good article.

His stance does come across as that of an old curmudgeon though. He's trying to define "Street Magic" as if it's something that needs definition. Mike Segal said it best: "[Street magic] is contemporary. It seems unvarnished. Like punk rock." I couldn't agree more. Swiss's article sets out to "find street magic." But in doing so he's missed the forest for the trees. Street magic isn't about fitting into a newly created genre with definable borders. It's more of an attitude and approach to magic--that magic isn't just for older guys in top hats on a stage making good money. It's for people who want to disrupt the mundaneness of every day life, who want to make some waves and disrupt their environment and make wherever they are a party. It's about having fun, and astonishing people for the love of it, not the paycheck.

I won't waste my time on his attacks on Ellusionist and similar companies, as he wasted more than enough of his on it. But I will say, in short, he just doesn't get the new generation of magicians, and it's a shame because they're going to pass him right by. He picks on Puncture in the article as an example of "lousy magic" because "it violates the Too Perfect Theory." I have two retorts:

1. Not everyone subscribes to the Too Perfect Theory, and if they do it's still something subjective that people will have differing opinions on anyhow. The Too Perfect Theory is just that--a theory, not a law. Because of this, it cannot be "violated."

2. He has clearly never performed Puncture or seen it performed live for a real audience. There is a reason Blaine put the trick into his last TV special--its strong. I've been performing it for about a year now. I make my own gimmicks so that I can let my spectators keep the coin after the trick. And it always gets a strong reaction and the people are always astonished.

Seems like this is a perfect example of Swiss already getting passed by by the new generation of magicians.

I don't want to debate his article point by point so I'll take the two biggest points he makes, which are that street magicians don't exist, and that there is no audience for them.

"I propose that street magic does not exist in terms of performers. At least not for professional performers – because without a camera crew in tow, no one can make a living at this."

He says "performers" in a broad sense, yet immediately afterwards finds himself having to justify that claim with "at least not professional performers." So does music not exist unless it's being played by a "professional?" Is it only people who have chosen/been capable of making a living with their art that are a part of our reality? Of course not, that's absurd. Again, as Mike Segal made the comparison, street magic is akin to punk rock. And how many punk bands can you think of that felt they needed to be signed to a big named label for validation?

"I propose that street magic does not exist in terms of audience. Because without a camera crew, who wants to be accosted by strange adolescents threatening magic?"

He's creating a straw man argument. Of course no one wants to be "accosted" by "strange adolescents" "threatening magic" or anything else. But since when are those the ingredients for street magic? They're not. Right now I'm a 27 year old high school English teacher--certaily not a "strange adolescent." And yesterday, without accosting anyone, I performed what I would call street magic. I went into a store to buy a ring. After I bought the ring I performed two phases of Garrett Thomas's Ring Thing with my new ring. The girl who sold me the ring was astonished into silence. I thought she wasn't impressed until she quietly muttered, "I'm sorry, I'm just so freaked out right now." Her and her friend were smiling, clearly woken up out of their mundane day at their little jewelry stand. To me, that's a better example of street magic than what Swiss put forth (which is clearly nothing but an attempt to slander the idea that there is an audience for street magicians).

I've worked professionally as a magician, but I have to say, I prefer performing "random acts of magic" (as Sankey calls it)--what many would call "street magic"--much more. To me that's where magic really exists. If it didn't, then perhaps Paul Harris wouldn't have dedicated a large portion of his life to exploring how magic exists in the real world, away from a stage and a paid gig. Seems to me that if this kind of magic didn't exist PH would have come to the same conclusion Swiss has and gone home by now.

 

[harapanong]

Best read I've had in ages. I'm just afraid that T11 might soon fall into this sort of criticism. Hopefully it doesn't.

- harapan. magic!

 

[Steerpike]

This is for all you, street magicians!

Read it before, and I wasn't impressed then.

E is ruining magic as he says by saying magic can be easy and quick.

Give me a break. Check out all the old ads for the various pocket tricks that are still on the market and get back to me when you have a clue.

Perform street magic? I'd like to see how many people, actually perform street magic,

Yo!

They obviously don't use a camera crew, since I don't see their videos in the media section,

I don't post videos to this particular forum because I have nothing to prove. I know magicians personally who give me instant, brutally honest feedback in real life.

As for recording, of course people are going to overreact on camera. Its human nature to do so.

Bingo. Anybody ever seen the documentary Sherman's March?

I've worked professionally as a magician, but I have to say, I prefer performing "random acts of magic" (as Sankey calls it)--what many would call "street magic"--much more. To me that's where magic really exists. If it didn't, then perhaps Paul Harris wouldn't have dedicated a large portion of his life to exploring how magic exists in the real world, away from a stage and a paid gig. Seems to me that if this kind of magic didn't exist PH would have come to the same conclusion Swiss has and gone home by now.

This thread just became a whole lot more profound.

Swiss may be insightful and intelligent, but he's set in his ways and resistant to change. He puts up strawman arguments to justify his close-mindedness to the shift in thinking.

Perhaps one of the best examples of modern street magic was described in an article by professional busker and parlor magician, Eric Evans (also the co-author of The Secret Art of Magic). In it, he described a man simply known as Merlin the Magical One from Dallas, Texas.

Merlin can pull down a tip of $100 consistently because he's an enchanting, likeable person who can charm you all night long. His chops are most impressive in their own right, but it's his ability to make his spectators the center of attention, and women in particular, that make him so popular and successful.

So if you buy into that article word for word, fall for every strawman, attack every scapegoat, and ignore every cheap shot, then be prepared to be left in the dust.

 

[Chatmaster]

Hmm......thought provoking. I've actually never heard of the guy. Is he Swiss (oooh.....trying to be funny.....gimme a break)?

He could be talking about gummy bears and be like "Yeah....they're just too damn tasty. Too tasty to be likeable at that."

Didn't like the article personally.

EXACTLY THE POINT!

Jamy is my favorite magician. I have talked to him about this via email, and it seems that we both agree on many of these topics. I could add on and on to what he says, but It would take up this whole forum.

I will say, however, that he is right when he respects that magicians like Garcia wish that they could take back some career moves with E. He is a talented young dude who chose to be falsely advertized to a bad audience.

Mr. Christian's skill is lower than that of Criss Angel's. Marketing Genious, not a magician.

So you know, they delete this every time you try and post it at E.

Sean Beard's little CTW "KAOS" is a piece of crap, seeing that because Sean has little magic experience he couldn't have had this effect outlast the "time-test" by which creators are judged. Danny has passed that test, and only a FEW of the guys here at T11 have.

In my opinion, Wayne (H) hasn't.

Sorry, just my opinion. He is a decent performer, but he is falsely respected as something else that he is not.

Aaron, Lee, Chris, Mathieu, Dan (white).....you have all passed that test.

The article itself is great, though. Jamy is one of those magicians who CAN let his skills do the talking as well as stand up for his opinions. Well done, Jamy.

BTW-If you live near NY and get the chance to experience Monday Night Magic where Swiss performs sometimes, take it. The show is one of the best Ive seen.

OUT WITH ELLUSIONIST, OUT WITH TODAY'S TRENDS!

 

[Close-Up Expert]

I agree with almost everything Chatmaster said...especially about Sean Beard. Sheesh...that irritates me to no end. He claims all this stuff about this and that, but then says he only been into magic for a few years.

Either way, I loved the article by Jamy. It's been quite some time since I read it, but I still feel the same way about what he said. All true. Like it or not, he backs up what he says and makes some VERY good arguments about what's known as "street magic."

Best.
Steve

 

[Steerpike]

I will say, however, that he is right when he respects that magicians like Garcia wish that they could take back some career moves with E. He is a talented young dude who chose to be falsely advertized to a bad audience.

Do either of you know Daniel Garcia personally?

Mr. Christian's skill is lower than that of Criss Angel's.

Oh, here we ****ing go again...

Yes, name drop Criss Angel and take a cheap shot at him to make it look like you know what you're talking about. Give me a break.

Take a look at Criss' early material. The man obviously has the talent to make it. Even Morgan Strebler has said that he issued his challenge to Criss partly because he believes he's capable of better than what he's trying to coast on.

The only problem with Criss is that he's letting his ego get in the way.

So you know, they delete this every time you try and post it at E.

Gee, do you think maybe that's because people only post it with the intention of starting trouble?

Sean Beard's little CTW "KAOS" is a piece of crap, seeing that because Sean has little magic experience he couldn't have had this effect outlast the "time-test" by which creators are judged. Danny has passed that test, and only a FEW of the guys here at T11 have.

In my opinion, Wayne (H) hasn't.

Sorry, just my opinion. He is a decent performer, but he is falsely respected as something else that he is not.

Aaron, Lee, Chris, Mathieu, Dan (white).....you have all passed that test.

Am I the only one who sees the irony in talking about effects withstanding the test of time when they've only been out for a couple of years at most?

OUT WITH ELLUSIONIST, OUT WITH TODAY'S TRENDS!

That would also mean doing away with Theory-11, Cyril, Sean Fields, Nathan Kranzo, Justin Miller, De'vo, the Bucks... in fact a decent chunk of today's close-up workers or anyone who's ever appeared on TV.

The more I talk to magicians, the more I hate dealing with them.

 

[JackOSpadesNik]

I'm a kid and this was a great read. I agree entirely. E doesn't have any respect for the art.

Also, kids need to stop thinking that they can just go out and bother people to show them a trick. That's not street magic. If you want to see Street Magic one of the most modern examples would be Gazzo. You have to build a crowd. Not just bother some hot chick and say " wanna see a trick" That would be stupid.

He's not being negative. He's telling people the truth. Ecspecially that stupid advertising on How to do Street Magic. No magic whatsoever should be that easy to learn. You need to practice. Even on a self-working trick.

Every magician should read this. He has a lot to say and it should be heard.

 

[Steerpike]

E doesn't have any respect for the art.

And what does respect constitute exactly?

Also, kids need to stop thinking that they can just go out and bother people to show them a trick. That's not street magic. If you want to see Street Magic one of the most modern examples would be Gazzo. You have to build a crowd. Not just bother some hot chick and say " wanna see a trick" That would be stupid.

I have never met a single newbie who does this. That tells me that either by some cosmic coincidence I only ever meet cool people, or this "street magic threat" that you people are buying into hook, line, and sinker is entirely imagined.

This is the veritable Red Scare of magic. You people are raising your torches and pitchforks and contructing a gallows for an enemy that doesn't exist. But you're so desperate for a scapegoat anyway, that you'll turn on each other before long.

He's not being negative. He's telling people the truth.

The truth is not made of strawman arguments and omissions of certain facts.

I was doing pretty good for myself this summer doing what some would consider street magic. I went out to the Waterfront and did 5 straight hours of strolling magic on the weekend evenings. I pulled down tips that averaged about 6 or 7 dollars an hour. Which isn't bad for a newbie to busking. Not fantastic, but it was a start.

And I got my start in magic with Ellusionist. Hmm... Maybe they aren't the goat-legged villains you wish to pretend they are?

Ecspecially that stupid advertising on How to do Street Magic. No magic whatsoever should be that easy to learn. You need to practice. Even on a self-working trick.

Do you own any of those DVDs? I do. They talk about practicing a lot.

Funny how guys like you froth at the mouth over people being suckered by advertising, when it seems you feel for it harder than any 12-year-old kid watching David Blaine on TV and wanting to do a card trick.

Every magician should read this. He has a lot to say and it should be heard.

Everyone should read it for the sake of hearing a dissenting opinion. Now I'm voicing mine.

 

[Mat La Vore]

The more I talk to magicians, the more I hate dealing with them.

I'm with you on that one as well.

I recently noticed, when I took a very long hiatus from attending my local IBM mettings, visiting online forums, even just hanging out at my local magic shop, that my magic and my love for it got much better and much stronger. Odd, huh?