Saturday, May 03, 2008
NEIL FOSTER: MASTER MANIPULATOR
While I was looking for Randi's video (the post below) I stumbled on this one (above) featuring two of my favorite magicians, Neil Foster and Dai Vernon. Both are what you call "manipulators." Manipulators don't levitate or saw anyone in half. They make things appear and disappear in their hands. In my opinion it's the highest form of magic, because everything takes place in a small area and is highly scrutinized. No curtains and no elaborate props. It's what you can do with your hands standing only a few feet from the audience.
The manipulation clips all occur within the first three minutes of the video.
Just for fun here's a clip (above) showing a couple of magic tricks that go horribly and painfully wrong.
BTW, I'm no fan of Uri Geller (refers to the post below) because he tried to pass himself off as a real psychic and not a magician, but I do admire the guy's skill. He may be one of the most skilled magicians of his generation. Think about it. He often did what he did in front of cameras, with people sitting all around him, often shoulder to shoulder. The scrutiny was infinitely more intense than usual, and sometimes he actually did use keys and spoons that he'd never seen before. The guy had talent, no doubt about it.
God save us from bad 70s video.
ReplyDeleteI was all chuffed to see Neil Foster, but what a terrible clip. Way to totally undercut and gut the effect-cut away every 12 frames or so to the slack-faced audience. GAAAAH! Just horrible. But even with the lousy filmmaking/direction it's plain that Foster is fantastic. I love closeup magic best too, Eddie. It always does the trick(no pun intended)-makes one feel that frisson of wonder when it's done expertly.
Which reminds me--did you see "The Illusionist" (released about three years ago? With Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti) I thought it was sublime.
Call me a coward, but I stopped watching the second clip when I realized what was about to transpire. Did I miss much?
ReplyDeleteGreat posts, Eddie.
ReplyDeleteDo you know Derren Brown? I think you would like him. He's in the same league as Randi.
Eddie - you like magic ? I never knew. Neil Foster (who I met ) and Dai Vernon (who I didn't meet in person ,but I have a few letters from) are among my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI saw Neil Foster perform live a few times and Jenny is right that this film doesn't necessarily show off his work to it's best advantage . The first segment is just "home movies" from the Abbott's Magic Get-Togethers (held each year in August in a little tiny town in Michigan which is home to the Abbott's Magic Co. which at one time was the largest magic manufacturing company in the world) .
If you like Dai Vernon then you should check out a documentary called "The Spirit of Magic" which was spearheaded by the brilliant Canadian magician David Ben. Vernon was a unique individual, a purist, primarily an Artist, who's medium happened to be sleight-of-hand.
David Ben has also published Vol. 1 of a Dai Vernon biography which is really good :
Dai Vernon: Artist - Magician- Muse
Here's a cool clip of Vernon's student Ricky Jay talking about Vernon and Charlie Miller (another great sleight-of-hand man) :
Ricky Jay on Dai Vernon