Draven, you have an excellent point. I'm a close up guy who dabbles in mentalism every so often and I can't think of any routines beyond the simplest productions, vanishes and transformations that take less than 90 seconds. Triumph and the ACR come kinda close, but Triumph takes time to shuffle and a good ACR will last a couple of phases that could take 90 seconds themselves, especially if you're a comedic guy like David Williamson. Even the Cups and Balls is out when you have 90 seconds. I think you'd have a two phase routine, and even that would be pushing it. Let's face it, the show just isn't designed for magicians.
Could A Female Magician Get On AGT
- Thread starter AshleyHall
- Start date
There was a female comedy magician on the show the same year I was (and if you recall how great THAT was for all of us involved).
A friend and I discussed the problem with girls in magic and why many of them are just as bad as the men (how's that for equal rights?) If you are a male magician and you do something iffy at a magic club meeting you get 20 guys telling you what you did wrong, but a gal in that same position will get nothing but praise.
I think the biggest problem is a lot of gals try to get by on the "I'm just a girl" thing. We know you have breasts, now entertain me. (No dressing slutty or getting naked does not equate entertainment in my book)
As for AGT, they don't care what gender you are. You are just filler and ratings. Even good performers such as Roxanne, Malin Nilsson, etc would bomb on AGT.
A friend and I discussed the problem with girls in magic and why many of them are just as bad as the men (how's that for equal rights?) If you are a male magician and you do something iffy at a magic club meeting you get 20 guys telling you what you did wrong, but a gal in that same position will get nothing but praise.
I think the biggest problem is a lot of gals try to get by on the "I'm just a girl" thing. We know you have breasts, now entertain me. (No dressing slutty or getting naked does not equate entertainment in my book)
As for AGT, they don't care what gender you are. You are just filler and ratings. Even good performers such as Roxanne, Malin Nilsson, etc would bomb on AGT.
I will preface this with the fact that I have not seen many stage acts and honestly don't watch that many magicians in general. But, in my lifetime I have never seen a 'big box' illusionist that has really changed the game, other than maybe Penn & Teller (Mostly Teller). As soon as a box comes on stage, I lose interest because the workings of the illusion are basically the same no matter what the set dressing is.
Kevin James doing a broom suspension with a little janitor is still just someone doing a broom suspension. I've seen it. Repeatedly. Origami, Bump in the Night, Asra, Assitant's Revenge ... half the performers out there don't even bother painting the prop so at least some of these guys do that. What I've seen of James strikes me as what I've seen of everyone else. It doesn't matter if his methods are amazingly original, fast, clever or what have you, because it just looks like boxes on stage and women in glittery dresses. I can pull up videos from when I was a kid and the overall feel is the same, there's just different costumes and less hair.
I honestly don't think a magician could win, largely because the judges won't let them. On top of the Hollywood BS you mentioned, Craig, and the limited performance time, there would have to be an act that's interesting enough to the general public to try to create a big show out of it. I've never seen anything that fits that bill that would work on AGT.
A magician actually made it to the grand final on Australia's Got Talent last year. I didn't watch the season, but I think he had some sort of inspiring message for the people, which is probably why he got so far, though he seems to be pretty good too. Just missed out on winning I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTlS43pCKeY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTlS43pCKeY
Charlie Caper won Sweden's Got Talent if I recall correctly.. but this is America. We don't want none of them commie black magic users winning no prizes.
I've addressed this point dozens of times; magicians allowed this image to come about and in many cases, created it by loosing kooth. . . we forgot what it means to be "A Magician" and the examples given us by the Gentlemen class performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Just look through the forums at how often we find threads about how to use magic in order to bed down young ladies let alone the profuse and very public exhibition of alcoholic and narcotic consumption. 90% of us still relying on the same horrid one liners that were used in Vaudeville vs. applying ourselves in creating material that's more original and "ours".
I remember when Patrick & Mia's entire act got stolen while they were at the Magic Castle. For most of us this would be devastating enough but we can easily replace the bulk of our equipment with a visit to the magic shop. European acts, even into the early 90's, prided themselves on originality and tailored made props that were exclusive to them and maybe a few associates they would share with their peers. So when this theft happened this charming duo not only mourned the tangible loss but the betrayal -- disrespect -- shown by a petty individual who didn't understand what it meant to be "A Magician". When we fail to find this mind set within our own ranks why does is shock so many to see it displayed by the laity in regards to what we do?
As the great Pogo said whilst looking into the mirror, "I've seen the enemy and we is it!"