The Masked Magician on Reddit
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I read most of what he had to say. Most of it was about his love of magic and how what he did was to provoke controversy throughout the community. Is it just me, or does anyone else think there could have been a better way to handle the advent of the internet and magic?
It may interest you all to know a few facts about Val and the SUCCESS of the Masked Mage, including the fact that he's in serious negotiations right now to return to the Vegas strip as the famed Masked Magician, exposure and all.
I've known Val for over 30 years and he's a super nice guy. The Masked Mage project opened an amazing number of doors for him, allowing him to tour with a live stage show for most of the past decade or so. While I don't care too much for the act of literal exposure on his shows I understand part of it -- Magic (especially big stage) hadn't made any major advancements in decades and needed to "step outside the box" quite literally.
A very large percentage of the methods exposed ARE NOT legit or else they are so out of date it simply doesn't matter in that they aren't used any longer. But too, we magic buffs tend to short sell the general public when it comes to how well so many actually figure out what it is we do. . . again, this is especially true when it comes to big illusions. The public knows that we use traps, mirrors, look alikes, special tables and more, so tipping bits involving older effects in which such things are used, ain't a big deal. Even smaller effects like PK time. . . Oops! They don't use the actual method for that one (and Banachek is still looking for one of those nifty James Bond gadgets for doing it).
When it comes to the smaller odds & ends that have been exposed, such as the Swami Gimmick and Center Tear, the ***** comes as the result of people who don't know how to properly use said technique. I'll lay money on it that you can show an audience exactly how such things are used and then turn around and do a dozen tricks using that very gimmick or technique and they won't catch it.
Some years ago Penn & Teller along with some help from Jamie Swiss, proved this very point. Penn exposed a particular card control technique as part of a gag. During intermission Jamie went around doing card tricks for the audience USING THE VERY TECHNIQUE JUST EXPOSED. When the show resumed Penn asked folks how they liked all the card tricks and then pointed out how Jamie used said method in every trick he did and yet, no one figured him out.
This is the difference between being a Magicians and being some clown that does tricks; a true magician learns to find the flexibility in his methods and too, how to have the brass to do things right under the nose of others who think they know what you're doing.
To NlightN. . . you may not like grand illusions but I don't think your comment was necessary in that you obviously don't know what you're talking about. Big illusions are monstrous investments for those that choose to do them; the average effect costing as much as a car and in some cases, a house. It's not little thing when such pieces are tipped even though there is a logic factor such as I've mentioned -- everyone more or less knows that the girl curls up in the upper box of a sawing cabinet but the many redesigns of that effect have slowly removed that possibility and in return, given us a greater type of impossibility. This is what Val was shooting for when he made his challenge and so today, we have at least a half-dozen variants to this famous illusion that have done away with the box or made it transparent, etc.
Val was NOT the "original" Masked Magician btw. Long before the FOX shows that Val worked there was a video made for the home video market. The kid that wore the mask was named Hal Marquate and though he was dramatically drummed out of the Magic Castle and other club memberships and shamed, he has had a relatively successful career working cruise ships with a conventional magic show. He was exposed by way of joint effort and investigation by Peter Pit, Kirk Kirkham and yours truly though the Castle had others they were looking at as likely suspects. . . unfortunately, my name was on that list because most of the props seen in the video "were mine". . . that is to say, they were once part of my collection and readily identifiable to me. Add to this the physical body type I happened to share with Hal and reason for suspicion was quite logical.
The bottom line is, stop worrying about Val and what his character did, it only hurts you if you let it. It only hurts magic if we keep whining about it and keeping the issue alive. Shut up and it will go away and those producing such bits will no longer have the "demand" for what they supply.
I've known Val for over 30 years and he's a super nice guy. The Masked Mage project opened an amazing number of doors for him, allowing him to tour with a live stage show for most of the past decade or so. While I don't care too much for the act of literal exposure on his shows I understand part of it -- Magic (especially big stage) hadn't made any major advancements in decades and needed to "step outside the box" quite literally.
A very large percentage of the methods exposed ARE NOT legit or else they are so out of date it simply doesn't matter in that they aren't used any longer. But too, we magic buffs tend to short sell the general public when it comes to how well so many actually figure out what it is we do. . . again, this is especially true when it comes to big illusions. The public knows that we use traps, mirrors, look alikes, special tables and more, so tipping bits involving older effects in which such things are used, ain't a big deal. Even smaller effects like PK time. . . Oops! They don't use the actual method for that one (and Banachek is still looking for one of those nifty James Bond gadgets for doing it).
When it comes to the smaller odds & ends that have been exposed, such as the Swami Gimmick and Center Tear, the ***** comes as the result of people who don't know how to properly use said technique. I'll lay money on it that you can show an audience exactly how such things are used and then turn around and do a dozen tricks using that very gimmick or technique and they won't catch it.
Some years ago Penn & Teller along with some help from Jamie Swiss, proved this very point. Penn exposed a particular card control technique as part of a gag. During intermission Jamie went around doing card tricks for the audience USING THE VERY TECHNIQUE JUST EXPOSED. When the show resumed Penn asked folks how they liked all the card tricks and then pointed out how Jamie used said method in every trick he did and yet, no one figured him out.
This is the difference between being a Magicians and being some clown that does tricks; a true magician learns to find the flexibility in his methods and too, how to have the brass to do things right under the nose of others who think they know what you're doing.
To NlightN. . . you may not like grand illusions but I don't think your comment was necessary in that you obviously don't know what you're talking about. Big illusions are monstrous investments for those that choose to do them; the average effect costing as much as a car and in some cases, a house. It's not little thing when such pieces are tipped even though there is a logic factor such as I've mentioned -- everyone more or less knows that the girl curls up in the upper box of a sawing cabinet but the many redesigns of that effect have slowly removed that possibility and in return, given us a greater type of impossibility. This is what Val was shooting for when he made his challenge and so today, we have at least a half-dozen variants to this famous illusion that have done away with the box or made it transparent, etc.
Val was NOT the "original" Masked Magician btw. Long before the FOX shows that Val worked there was a video made for the home video market. The kid that wore the mask was named Hal Marquate and though he was dramatically drummed out of the Magic Castle and other club memberships and shamed, he has had a relatively successful career working cruise ships with a conventional magic show. He was exposed by way of joint effort and investigation by Peter Pit, Kirk Kirkham and yours truly though the Castle had others they were looking at as likely suspects. . . unfortunately, my name was on that list because most of the props seen in the video "were mine". . . that is to say, they were once part of my collection and readily identifiable to me. Add to this the physical body type I happened to share with Hal and reason for suspicion was quite logical.
The bottom line is, stop worrying about Val and what his character did, it only hurts you if you let it. It only hurts magic if we keep whining about it and keeping the issue alive. Shut up and it will go away and those producing such bits will no longer have the "demand" for what they supply.
Tony Chang said that people think that the masked magician is a 'badass magician who has gone rogue'. haha
Best to leave it alone like Craig said.
Lance Burton added the "Mismade Lady" to his show the week after the masked magician revealed it on Fox. His reasoning was that if it was just exposed then nobody else would be doing the "Mismade Lady".
My biggest problem is that he exposed a handful of specific creators effects. On some episodes it could have been "Jim Steinmeyer's Greatest Secrets Exposed". I don't think that laymen pay attention to him.
What bothers me is that he is still at large in South America, his videos are still on the web, and they still play his reruns. New Magicians get the idea that these are nameless effects by nameless authors. Recently I was watching the "Wizard Product Review" on youtube and in the suggested videos I was linked to Val exposing the very popular "Ge*ko". This gave links to him exposing the "R*v*n" and other popular tricks that were released long after his specials with Fox ended. I don't think you will ever go to a gig make a nickel and they say "Oh! I saw that on youtube!"
Val's videos spread this idea that because I'm a magician I should know how everything works. That being a magician gives you the right to know all the secrets in magic. This is just not true.
Lance Burton added the "Mismade Lady" to his show the week after the masked magician revealed it on Fox. His reasoning was that if it was just exposed then nobody else would be doing the "Mismade Lady".
My biggest problem is that he exposed a handful of specific creators effects. On some episodes it could have been "Jim Steinmeyer's Greatest Secrets Exposed". I don't think that laymen pay attention to him.
What bothers me is that he is still at large in South America, his videos are still on the web, and they still play his reruns. New Magicians get the idea that these are nameless effects by nameless authors. Recently I was watching the "Wizard Product Review" on youtube and in the suggested videos I was linked to Val exposing the very popular "Ge*ko". This gave links to him exposing the "R*v*n" and other popular tricks that were released long after his specials with Fox ended. I don't think you will ever go to a gig make a nickel and they say "Oh! I saw that on youtube!"
Val's videos spread this idea that because I'm a magician I should know how everything works. That being a magician gives you the right to know all the secrets in magic. This is just not true.
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This line inspired me to offer some perspective;
Val "exposed" the Levitation by having a Fork Lift behind the curtain. . . my buddy Dean Hankey knew of this and deliberately had a full sized image of a Fork Lift made up on foamcore. . . when he needed the hoop the curtain paged open and revealed this image. Dean offered his classic goofy look and then knocked it down, leaving the girl floating. . . he deliberately used Val's explanation to his advantage. But there's more to what he did; he proved that there's more than one way to create said effect. But let's take this a few steps further; someone says that they want an Aga Levitation. . . what does that really mean?
The Primary version of the Aga is a larger and quite heavy piece of machinery sat behind the curtain. I've used several different versions of this lifting system over the years, one of which raised the girl 18', which isn't just impressive to the public but dangerous as hell if you don't set all the safeties the unit demands . . . I've seen idiots try to avoid those safeties and had everything fall forward, into the orchestra pit and the poor girl ending up in the hospital. . . but that's just a side note.
There is a little known variation to the Aga that is mounted beneath the stage; chances are you've seen it used but didn't realize it. The late Barclay Shaw exploited this method for the old "Beyond Belief" show and left magician's completely dumbfounded for years . . . which takes us back to the fact that even highly educated performers don't know it all and similarly, even those familiar with multiple methods can be thrown for a loop if and when you stage things in a way that goes outside the standard mold.
The Asrah Levitation is another awesome example; I've personally owned and worked with over a half-dozen different type of forms as well as alternative methods for ditching the girl. . . including outside with her literally laying down in the dirt. But staging is everything; my mentor gained fame for being the first to combine the Aga with an Asrah back in the 1960s . . . covering the suspended young lady as she floated some 4 feet or so off the floor. . .
The Sawing in Half is again, a famous effect with numerous variations and I'm not just talking about the evolutionary changes such as moving from the big boxes of Thurston fame to the Thin Model design introduced by John Daniel (anyone know who the first girl was to work in that cabinet?). There are several variations as to how that streamlined classic works, including one method that I'm aware of, that had real feet on the second section vs. the "exposed" dummy feet . . . and on that note, the only remote controlled set-up on the feet that I've seen over the years are the one's Val demonstrated on the show. If they exist, I've not seen a single performer that actually uses them.
This handful of illustrations hopefully reveals just how complicated it can get when learning magic and magic secrets; there's always something else!
My knowledge on grand illusions ends with the mid and late 1990s, there's a ton of stuff that's come out since that I simply know nothing of because I'd gotten out of that side of the biz. What I do know however, isn't so much due to my ties with Kirkham and said collection, but the fact that I have a peculiar habit that was started by my father; anything I choose to do I will research and study until I know it exceptionally well. Because of this single habit I have a wide range of understanding of key bits featured in my shows. This is still true when it comes to Mentalism and Bizarre Magick. But then, this is also why I tend to be "hard" on others when it comes to learning the trade; there's so much more to it. ;-)