Mr. Jamy Ian Swiss has a world-wide reputation,
so when I learned that he is going to be on a
Penguin Live Lecture,
I did not hesitate to pre-order his lecture.
His card handling is
not as smooth as I heard it was,
and the methods are not as sophisticated as he claims.
He
messes up on both the Card on Ceiling and his card stab routine where he tosses a card in between
the two selections. He has to do them over and over until he hits them, and you can tell that he is
embarrassed. Also, I independently developed his sandwich stab routine when I was about 14 years
old.. so I'm puzzled when he claims that he is the first one to think it.
The way he talks
to the audience is not pleasant either.
I am shocked that this well received magician is
treating his audience with such a condescending tone! He "hates" a lot of things, and calls many
things and people "stupid" or "idiotic". You can tell that the audience is not really enjoying his
personality.
I've purchased many Penguin Live Lectures over the years,
but this was one
that I thought was not worth the price.
Hi, I just want to point out that both of the two mess-ups you mentioned happened during the instructional part of the lecture. When he performed both effects for the lay-audience, he concluded them (apparently) without error. It's worth considering that when a lecturer is simultaneously performing and teaching, the mind is divided. I suspect this is why many performers tend to mess-up things during lectures that they otherwise perform smoothly.
Apparently this lecture flew over your head. Go watch The Art of Magic and say that his card handling is not as smooth as you heard. I did not get this lecture for the "tricks" but more so just as a fan of Jamy and his thinking. Having "mess ups" only adds to the validity of how hard magic is, and allows one to develop outs as nothing is perfect every time. Not magic that is hard or worth doing anyway. Although some may not like Jamy's arrogant attitude his body of work and knowledge of the art speaks for itself, this was only a small part of it. Whether you mess up or not is not important but more so how you handle it. No one talks magic theory better than Jamy, and The Art of Magic really showcased that as well as his sleight of hand mastery with cards and coins. Whether he is still that good now is irrelevant as far as the lecture goes. Most of the stuff I would not use but I got it as a longtime fan and friend of Jamy's and his entire body of work. Some of it I liked and will use though or can use tips for other effects as well. It is tough to perform and teach at the same time.
You are correct. He walks the high-wire, for sure. Sleight of Hand is impossible, isn't it? Live performance carries risk. The camera is different than an audience, as well. Right? And he isn't just a card magician, thankfully. The painful truth is magic is a very exacting and difficult art. You will fail. You will fall down. Here's to us getting out in the woods and failing. And we just got a new president, which I can bet was weighing on his mind, as well. And the audience.
Anonymous I have to agree with most of what you said. I also concur with your statement "The way he talks to the audience is not pleasant either."
I met him at a convention a few years ago where he was standing around. I gave him profuse compliments and showed him the books I had bought that he authored.
He was rude and indifferent, and the dismissive way that he spoke to people was very disappointing and off-putting. It was a direct contrast to other magicians that I've met while simply walking through magic conventions (including Shawn Farquhar, John Bannon, Michael Carbonaro, David Blaine, John Archer, Chad Long, Eric Leclerc, Asi Wind, and many more) over the years.
All were very nice and tried to engage a little or a lot, and then politely moved on. Jamy had nothing to do, but acted too important or elite to simply acknowledge or share a smile with what was at the time, a fan and proven purchaser of his materials.
Add a comment
Disappointing
Report this review
