IBM SAM Day 5
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CraigMitchell
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CraigMitchell
- Posts: 1790
- Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
- Location: Magic
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FISM North America Close-up Contest
FISM North America Close-up Contest
I've now discovered where all the US competitors vanished to ... they've entered "close-up" or in the more accurate sense - "parlour"
Unfortunately the 'glory' days of American 'contest magic' are most certainly over. Not even the close-up category can save the US of A on this 4th July holiday.
KAYLA DRESCHER - USA - a likeable performer in a bartender training school setup ... color changing liquids, appearing cherries, vanishing olives, under developed concept with not enough magic.
BILL COOK - USA - high energy commercial performer but by no means a contest act. Three disparate tricks with no structure to tie them together ending with the cups and balls.
Side note to all contestants - if you do the cups and balls at a magic contest you are certifiably insane or need to be very sure that you are bringing something new, fresh and original to the table - otherwise please don't bother. Same applies to zombie, candles, dove cage, billiard balls, and any other stock standard effect you may choose to perform Do you not realise ( ESPECIALLY at FISM ) how many acts the audience is subjected to ?
ROD CHOW - CANADA - an annoying paint by numbers act which I've never liked. Bill changes, more bill changes and wait for it ... even more bill changes. Please give me something to care about ... mindless fluff.
ED RIPLEY - USA ... cups and balls done three ways ... traditional tuxedo & tails, rap and Forrest Gump. A magician friendly act.
CHRIS HANNIBAL - USA ... storytelling act with appearing silver dollars, candy in a tube and ending with a song from the Muppets. Please don't sing if you can't. The motion sickness from the automated cameras didn't help
STEFFEN BANTA - USA ... a youngster with a rap based act with moves to boot ... signed card in microphone, ambitious card and coin matrix. The presentation fits Steffen's age and there's definite potential to develop a tight and enjoyable set with the right direction. Probably a little out of his depth - but I'd venture to say more creativity went in here compared to some of the adult contestants we've seen. I hope it continues.
SOEL PARK - SOUTH KOREA ... an audience favourite. Cups, balls and pens in a flurry of eye candy, visual color changes and a voiceover by Michael Ammar. Standing ovation from the magic hungry masses.
MERRITT AMBROSE - USA ... lady luck soundtrack with cards, coins, matrix and appearing whiskey bottle. Impossible to follow due to the poor camera work and black on black.
REUBEN MORELAND - USA ... here's an education. A cup & ball style routine done to a thinly veiled euphemism for oral sex in the form of Flo Rida's Blow my Whistle song. And our naive audience are completely oblivious - does the performer himself even know ? With Reuben being the antithesis of hip-hop it's a bizarre choice. Ending with a dice matrix - the crowd love it ...
Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby
Let me know
Girl I'm gonna show you how to do it
And we start real slow
You just put your lips together
And you come real close
I don't think I'm going to ever be able to look at a cup and ball the same again.
MARTIN BRAESSER - ARGENTINA ... a strange act that made little sense. Appearing teabags, biscuits, strange voiceovers about dreams and flowers - and ending up with a paintbrush I clearly forgot to take my meds this morning.
SHIN LIM - CANADA ... crowd favourite, Shin Lim, returns with his black art card act - gimmicked mat and visual color changes along with dramatic soundtrack. Unfortunately he exposes the black backs of his cards on the big screen which somewhat destroys the illusion. But the crowd don't care ... and up they get on their feet.
MICHAEL DARDANT - USA ... ring manipulation, sponge balls, coin pouches, mini briefcase and an exposed load of a jumbo ball bearing as a grand finale. A little too all over the place for my liking.
ALBERTO LORENZO - USA ... please save me now. The stereotypical one-track magic act. Appearing dice. Little dice. Jumbo dice. Big dice. Baby dice. Bigger dice. Tiny dice. More dice. It looks like he robbed a Vegas surplus supply store. Who cares about dice?
And so ends another lack lustre day of contests. This entire convention was focused around the competition and based on the flawed assumption that there would be sufficient acts worth competing. It's clear that just about any act that entered was accepted.
On the whole - the standard has been poor. The 5 days of contests could have easily been whittled down to a single day ... and the fact that not a single stage act from the USA made the judges' 70% threshold to compete at FISM speaks volumes. That honour has gone to Trevor & Lorena Watters from Canada.
If there is a next FISM North America - it may make sense to just have it in Asia to save on the commute time for the stage entrants
I've now discovered where all the US competitors vanished to ... they've entered "close-up" or in the more accurate sense - "parlour"
Unfortunately the 'glory' days of American 'contest magic' are most certainly over. Not even the close-up category can save the US of A on this 4th July holiday.
KAYLA DRESCHER - USA - a likeable performer in a bartender training school setup ... color changing liquids, appearing cherries, vanishing olives, under developed concept with not enough magic.
BILL COOK - USA - high energy commercial performer but by no means a contest act. Three disparate tricks with no structure to tie them together ending with the cups and balls.
Side note to all contestants - if you do the cups and balls at a magic contest you are certifiably insane or need to be very sure that you are bringing something new, fresh and original to the table - otherwise please don't bother. Same applies to zombie, candles, dove cage, billiard balls, and any other stock standard effect you may choose to perform Do you not realise ( ESPECIALLY at FISM ) how many acts the audience is subjected to ?
ROD CHOW - CANADA - an annoying paint by numbers act which I've never liked. Bill changes, more bill changes and wait for it ... even more bill changes. Please give me something to care about ... mindless fluff.
ED RIPLEY - USA ... cups and balls done three ways ... traditional tuxedo & tails, rap and Forrest Gump. A magician friendly act.
CHRIS HANNIBAL - USA ... storytelling act with appearing silver dollars, candy in a tube and ending with a song from the Muppets. Please don't sing if you can't. The motion sickness from the automated cameras didn't help
STEFFEN BANTA - USA ... a youngster with a rap based act with moves to boot ... signed card in microphone, ambitious card and coin matrix. The presentation fits Steffen's age and there's definite potential to develop a tight and enjoyable set with the right direction. Probably a little out of his depth - but I'd venture to say more creativity went in here compared to some of the adult contestants we've seen. I hope it continues.
SOEL PARK - SOUTH KOREA ... an audience favourite. Cups, balls and pens in a flurry of eye candy, visual color changes and a voiceover by Michael Ammar. Standing ovation from the magic hungry masses.
MERRITT AMBROSE - USA ... lady luck soundtrack with cards, coins, matrix and appearing whiskey bottle. Impossible to follow due to the poor camera work and black on black.
REUBEN MORELAND - USA ... here's an education. A cup & ball style routine done to a thinly veiled euphemism for oral sex in the form of Flo Rida's Blow my Whistle song. And our naive audience are completely oblivious - does the performer himself even know ? With Reuben being the antithesis of hip-hop it's a bizarre choice. Ending with a dice matrix - the crowd love it ...
Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby
Let me know
Girl I'm gonna show you how to do it
And we start real slow
You just put your lips together
And you come real close
I don't think I'm going to ever be able to look at a cup and ball the same again.
MARTIN BRAESSER - ARGENTINA ... a strange act that made little sense. Appearing teabags, biscuits, strange voiceovers about dreams and flowers - and ending up with a paintbrush I clearly forgot to take my meds this morning.
SHIN LIM - CANADA ... crowd favourite, Shin Lim, returns with his black art card act - gimmicked mat and visual color changes along with dramatic soundtrack. Unfortunately he exposes the black backs of his cards on the big screen which somewhat destroys the illusion. But the crowd don't care ... and up they get on their feet.
MICHAEL DARDANT - USA ... ring manipulation, sponge balls, coin pouches, mini briefcase and an exposed load of a jumbo ball bearing as a grand finale. A little too all over the place for my liking.
ALBERTO LORENZO - USA ... please save me now. The stereotypical one-track magic act. Appearing dice. Little dice. Jumbo dice. Big dice. Baby dice. Bigger dice. Tiny dice. More dice. It looks like he robbed a Vegas surplus supply store. Who cares about dice?
And so ends another lack lustre day of contests. This entire convention was focused around the competition and based on the flawed assumption that there would be sufficient acts worth competing. It's clear that just about any act that entered was accepted.
On the whole - the standard has been poor. The 5 days of contests could have easily been whittled down to a single day ... and the fact that not a single stage act from the USA made the judges' 70% threshold to compete at FISM speaks volumes. That honour has gone to Trevor & Lorena Watters from Canada.
If there is a next FISM North America - it may make sense to just have it in Asia to save on the commute time for the stage entrants
Last edited by CraigMitchell on July 4th, 2014, 9:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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CraigMitchell
- Posts: 1790
- Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
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Re: IBM SAM Day 5
GALA BANQUET
Any magic convention that has a gala banquet is very brave. Trying to feed the magic masses is no easy task ... and is generally asking for trouble.
The Renaissance Grand Hotel, however, thankfully managed to deliver. The hordes were fed. And the magicians seemed happy.
What is though ridiculous is the never ending stream of speeches and awards, honours, ribbons, chains, medals and noddy badges that the societies insist on presenting each other -- all the while ABSOLUTELY NO ONE AT ALL pays any attention whatsoever. The constant drone of self-congratulatory messages appeared to be more of an irritation to those trying to enjoy their dinner.
If no one is listening - and no one seems interested - then why do it at all? The sheer noise level with which you are competing has got to be a subtle hint that your home printed certificate for a job well done may not be as important as you would like.
Any magic convention that has a gala banquet is very brave. Trying to feed the magic masses is no easy task ... and is generally asking for trouble.
The Renaissance Grand Hotel, however, thankfully managed to deliver. The hordes were fed. And the magicians seemed happy.
What is though ridiculous is the never ending stream of speeches and awards, honours, ribbons, chains, medals and noddy badges that the societies insist on presenting each other -- all the while ABSOLUTELY NO ONE AT ALL pays any attention whatsoever. The constant drone of self-congratulatory messages appeared to be more of an irritation to those trying to enjoy their dinner.
If no one is listening - and no one seems interested - then why do it at all? The sheer noise level with which you are competing has got to be a subtle hint that your home printed certificate for a job well done may not be as important as you would like.
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Richard Kaufman
- Posts: 27058
- Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
- Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
- Location: Washington DC
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Re: IBM SAM Day 5
The food at the banquet was great: certainly the best I've ever had at any convention in the US.
The formal ceremonies of handing over the title from one president to another are something that many club members are interested in, and the giving of the Christopher Awards is also of interest to many (Dani DaOrtiz and Jim Steinmeyer were among those given awards).
However, the ballroom where the banquet was held had terrible sound. I could literally not hear a thing. Sounded like the adults going "Wah-wah-wah" in Peanuts cartoon. If the sound had been clear, then there would have been less talking by the people sitting in the audience. But after a while, when no one can hear, they begin to converse among themselves.
Craig: if you're not interested in these things (which took place mostly before and after the main course had been served) you're always free to get up and leave the room instead of sitting there unhappily and then bitching about it afterward.
Frankly, there's an unpleasant anti-US bias in your general remarks that I find disturbing. Yes, it's true that no acts from the US made it into the finals of the stage competition, but there are plenty of excellent stage acts in the US--they just didn't enter this contest.
The formal ceremonies of handing over the title from one president to another are something that many club members are interested in, and the giving of the Christopher Awards is also of interest to many (Dani DaOrtiz and Jim Steinmeyer were among those given awards).
However, the ballroom where the banquet was held had terrible sound. I could literally not hear a thing. Sounded like the adults going "Wah-wah-wah" in Peanuts cartoon. If the sound had been clear, then there would have been less talking by the people sitting in the audience. But after a while, when no one can hear, they begin to converse among themselves.
Craig: if you're not interested in these things (which took place mostly before and after the main course had been served) you're always free to get up and leave the room instead of sitting there unhappily and then bitching about it afterward.
Frankly, there's an unpleasant anti-US bias in your general remarks that I find disturbing. Yes, it's true that no acts from the US made it into the finals of the stage competition, but there are plenty of excellent stage acts in the US--they just didn't enter this contest.
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CraigMitchell
- Posts: 1790
- Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
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Re: IBM SAM Day 5
Richard,
With regards to the awards - either do it properly or don't do it at all. It's insulting to give an award to someone of Jim Steinmeyer's calibre and have no one paying any attention whatsoever ( whether due to venue, sound or other ) There needs to be a sense of decorum. Jim has done so much for magic and if you are going to honour him - do it properly. Why not have made that presentation in the theatre ? I am simply reflecting the sentiments of nearly all those I was with last night. I am sorry you disagree ... Or feel it's not worth mentioning.
With regards to your incorrect assumption - I have zero anti-US bias.
This was a North American contest filled majorly with non-US performers. I simply indicate that the Asian delegation effectively took top honors throughout and that the top scoring stage act to qualify to represent North America at FISM was Canadian ... How that is biased I do not know. It is fact.
There are plenty of fantastic performers in the country. But none of them are entering contests. That's worthy of discussion ... And hardly merits your easy way out nationalism jibe.
If you want to share another view point - please do so but invoking an unsubstantiated all sweeping cop out to try soften the reality is poor form.
With regards to the awards - either do it properly or don't do it at all. It's insulting to give an award to someone of Jim Steinmeyer's calibre and have no one paying any attention whatsoever ( whether due to venue, sound or other ) There needs to be a sense of decorum. Jim has done so much for magic and if you are going to honour him - do it properly. Why not have made that presentation in the theatre ? I am simply reflecting the sentiments of nearly all those I was with last night. I am sorry you disagree ... Or feel it's not worth mentioning.
With regards to your incorrect assumption - I have zero anti-US bias.
This was a North American contest filled majorly with non-US performers. I simply indicate that the Asian delegation effectively took top honors throughout and that the top scoring stage act to qualify to represent North America at FISM was Canadian ... How that is biased I do not know. It is fact.
There are plenty of fantastic performers in the country. But none of them are entering contests. That's worthy of discussion ... And hardly merits your easy way out nationalism jibe.
If you want to share another view point - please do so but invoking an unsubstantiated all sweeping cop out to try soften the reality is poor form.
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brianarudolph
- Posts: 404
- Joined: February 26th, 2012, 9:22 pm
Re: IBM SAM Day 5
CraigMitchell wrote:REUBEN MORELAND - USA ... here's an education. A cup & ball style routine done to a thinly veiled euphemism for oral sex in the form of Flo Rida's Blow my Whistle song. And our naive audience are completely oblivious - does the performer himself even know ? With Reuben being the antithesis of hip-hop it's a bizarre choice. Ending with a dice matrix - the crowd love it ...
Can you blow my whistle baby, whistle baby
Let me know
Girl I'm gonna show you how to do it
And we start real slow
You just put your lips together
And you come real close
I don't think I'm going to ever be able to look at a cup and ball the same again.
Oh, come on, Craig - everyone knows what the Whistle song is really about:
http://almigo.blogspot.com/2012/05/true ... istle.html
Clearly both Mr. Rida and Mr. Moreland share a mutual passion for this sport and a propensity for perfecting its proper officiating.