Here’s an interesting piece from The Guardian

Entitled Disillusioned with The Magicians it begins…

BBC1 and ITV have both recently aired magic shows with The Magicians and Penn And Teller: Fool Us. So have either of them held you spellbound?

There is then the by-line..

THE MAGICIANS The Magicians … it’s a kind of tragic.

The article is well worth a read and its author doe a fair bit of  “Lenny Bashing” …

“Part of the problem with the show is presenter Lenny Henry. Magic, particularly magic on TV, requires a fair amount of mystique and Lenny, bless his big, Brummie heart is about as inscrutable as a tin of Happy Shopper beans. Here for instance is Lenny introducing a trick that involved making comedian Stephen K Amos invisible: “Who here hasn’t wanted to be invisible? Which is what I said to the security guard when he found me hiding in Samantha Womack’s wardrobe.” Boom! Boom!”

This utter lack of mystery is further compounded by the guests (last Saturday featured Amos and Henry’s old Tiswas mate, the relentlessly jolly Chris Tarrant) and a format that harkens back to the days of Paul Daniels, Pontin’s and scruffy old hacks in top hats doing the Royal Variety Show.

It’s all so cheesily and insufferably 1970s – although we can probably blame this on its early evening schedule and the odd but dearly held assumption that magic shows are for the very young and very old. And this in the age of David Blaine, Jerry Sadowitz, Dynamo, Derren Brown and Penn & Teller.

But at least the articles author is more positive about the Penn and Teller Show, which I have already said was in my mind far superior – despite Jonathan Ross.

The Guardian article closes with an interesting set of observations..

“Harry Houdini, the arch sceptic and magician’s magician, often complained that what seemed wonderful to most people was every day and commonplace to him, describing his professional life as a “constant record of disillusion”. Almost a century after Houdini’s death you’d expect professional magicians to be even more inured to the charm of their trade’s trickery. So there was something strangely uplifting about Penn & Teller’s obvious delight and bafflement.

That said in the age of CGI and increased cynicism and with Paul Daniels auctioning off his props and tricks on eBay (the Magic Circle must be livid) one wonders whether magic really has any place on TV at all. And if so what format should it take?”

Valid points indeed and worthy of consideration.

As a professional magician part of my  stock in trade is to be sensitive to the likes, dislikes and interests of the audience – and audiences are changing. It’s not that they are any smarter, or any more sophisticated in some respects, it is that they have different expectations of the entertainers they allow into their space. The culture of instant gratification coupled with the ‘audience power’, as celebrated in all those ‘audience decides’ shows, means that they are more likely to vote with their feet or their disinterest unless you are able to capture (or pander) to their immediate emotions.

Television Magic does not have the immediacy and intimacy of the live performance, whether that’s stage or close-up. There is something in the roar of the crowd and the smell of the greasepaint (to coin an old theatre phrase) and the idea that at any minute the crowd en masse could reject your magical overtures is a real adrenalin rush.

When we think of the ‘masters’ of magic and, mentalism, they all have two things in common…

They connect with their audiences – Paul Daniels, Penn and Teller, Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Derren Brown – all experts in audience management.

Secondly they all have a persona, not necessarily an artificial stage character, but a charisma, a vibe that draws you to them. This ‘vibe’ is part of what they project, the secrets and insights they allude to have and the way in which they create value and meaning in what they do.

In terms of  work-a-day professional magic I like to believe there are really three arenas where magic will excel and continue to thrive.

Childrens Magic – this highly skilled area of performance, often attempted by the under-prepared who later regret thinking that this branch of the craft was ‘easy’.

Childrens Magicians can enrich the childhood experience with stories of wonder, laughter and real emotional engagement. My friend and colleague Professor Tickles is an example of such a performer. A master at engaging young audiences by keeping a childlike playfulness alive within himself.

Close-Up Magic – in whatever genre has the power to engage people and allow them to enjoy being fooled, baffled and amazed.

There will always be an interest in the roving table magician at functions, but this format could become very stale very quick.  Far too many close-up performers are interested in their own skill, their own ability to ‘knock an audience’ dead. The real secret of close-up magic is in the ability to gain rapport with the people whose space you are invading. More importantly perhaps the future of close-up lies not in the roving trickster, but in a return to the intimate ‘parlour style’ entertainments where guests joined the performer in their space. This is indeed the format I try to work in my close-up mentalism sessions.

Special Themed Theatre Shows – at the moment in the UK Paul Daniels can still pull a theatre crowd and of course Derren Brown has taken the stage performance of magic to a whole new level. There are few who can compete with him. It’s a shame that some of the acts magicians get to see at Magic Convention Gala Shows do not seem to be able to make the step up into large scale national theatre tours. Perhaps there are two reasons for this…

a) They may not have the material, the authority (in terms of presence) or the creativity to produce a two hour show

or

b) The audiences need to be re-educated about the real entertainment value of a full scale evening of magic.

I think there is the magical talent ‘out there’ and magicians could do more to bring the art back. Perhaps we need to be subversive and do what comedians did… remember…

Comedy and Comedians went through a period of boring repetition. The old mother-in-law jokes, sexist and racist material which lacked any real relevance to the changing demographic of the audience. Alternative Comedy was born from the frustrations of the ‘new talent’ who had something to say,  something to contribute. It went underground and a network of Comedy Clubs was born. They became the creative hotbed the ‘new comedy’ required.

The Comedy Club circuit is not unknown to magicians but not all magicians are comedic!

So I’m proposing here and now linking up with Professional Magicians in the UK who may already be working on this kind of thing, to create a network of regular magic nights in back rooms of pubs, clubs and institutions.

Let’s get together and publish where what and when – cross promotion guys and gals.

This is not about magic club nights for magicians but for promoting magic nights to the ‘muggles’ and generating an audience for good quality, artistic and meaningful magic.

I almost started to rant there!

Alan