Wow, I disagree with sombody and they get all mad and . Just for a proffesional magician on tv, I thought it would be a whole lot better.

I think the original poster has a valid point.

As magicians talking to other magicians, we're constantly told that our presentation is the key point to showing our effects to others. And yet here's a man (put your Blaine enthusiasm aside) demonstrating tricks with poor presentation, in the traditional sense.

He looks bored, he mumbles, makes little eye contact, rarely smiles - yet his presentation seems to be functional. Blaine is the antithesis of any "Make Friends and Influence People" body language book you could possibly read.

The difference between, let's say Greg Wilson's smile, great eye contact, funny jokes, his personable aura and Blaine's almost total disinterest in what he's doing is vast.

So I believe the question is: Blaine's presentation worked, yet it's against everything we're told. Why?

IMHO of course.

what did you expect to see?
he does short, simple, hard hitting, in the hands, visual card magic (im oz pearlman, hi)

he doesnt need to do knucklebusting stuff to get the reactions that he get.
its not that you have a different opinion, its that youre an idiot.

Akirafist can squash your nuts into oblivion, buddy.

I have the theory that the effect is what people remember and tell their friends about, but the presentation is what makes them do this. However, Blaine's already on TV, getting crazy reactions from mostly black people and women (not to be racist in any way, but it's true.) He doesn't need to further sell his effect, the people at home are already captured by it, because this is the first time they've seen a guy go and perform those "mind-blowing" tricks on the street.

You know what I mean? David Blaine doesn't need to worry about having flamboyant presentation because he's already going to be talked about the next day.

If he had humorous patter, and a good personality, people wouldn't treat him differently than a guy on a World's Greatest Magic special. If he was like all the other pros, he wouldn't stand out.

what kraynik said

My current theory is "street magic" wasn't that popular back when this was filmed and shown on television? Can anyone verify that other popular street magic shows were shown before this one?

If not, a possible scenario:

TV Audience: Sees street magic. Looks fun, here's a relatively "cool guy" doing tricks and getting good reactions. And it IS entertaining to watch. Something about street magic in general that's fulfilling to view.

Camera Crew: Shoots 20 invisible deck tricks, actually show the best 2, etc for other tricks.

And add in the fact that any magician with a camera crew will get an overall better response than one without.

hi fatsrat im pretty sure that if you were to watch Mr. Blaines special back when it came out you would have been amazed that special alone is responsible for about 85 % of magicians on this site or even more.

sorry

but isnt it common sense that if you know certain slieghts and effect than you will know how the effects are done????

being bored from the special is all personal

diffrent people like/ dislike blaines presentation

i just dont think its fair/ smart to say that a magic speical sucked because they knew how the tricks were done

akirafist makes a great point. However, there are always exceptions. David Blaine, when doing his magic, tried to come off as a street Shaman. He looks foreign, he talks in a very distinct manner, and he presents himself in a distinct manner as well. For many people, it creates the image of a miracle worker, especially when he does stuff like his levitation. He created the image of a modern shaman. And that's what he was going for. So it worked for him. But it's an exception to the rule.

its not about his tricks its about his presentation. you probally can do most of his tricks but you cant get reactions like him.

To quote a phrase I heard a little girl say the other day, “That is so 20th Century!â€

Im glad people are calming down when talking about this.

I was wrong to say the special sucked, but in my eyes it did. After watching Chris Angel a bunch thinking (How did he do that!!!), then seeing Davids special and knowing most of the tricks. Also, he did most of his tricks in compton?? Does anybody know why he did them their, out of all of the places.

And about his presention...
What I have read and watch about magic presention is nothing like what david blaine does.

dave had no cash when he did his first special.

watch drowned alive, and then tell me if you know how all his tricks are done

I know how ALOT of his tricks are done. They're not his own.

wait does david blaine have a new special out that just came out and if yes when is it on again