Blaine book

[Guest]

I know this thread is trying to move on from MaxNY's comment about actors, but I feel the need to say something.

I am an actor and a magician and a writer and a puppeteer and a million other things in any given week.

And you, MaxNY, have offended me.

I suggest, that before you make any more gross general blanket statements about an art form you very obviously know very little about; that you take the time to consider that there are people in this world who study and train their entire lives to merely scratch the surface of what it takes to truly explore the human condition.

'Actor's don't have original thoughts' it seems to me that if you gave your comment just a little more thought you would have saved yourself the embarrassment having your foot in your mouth.

Knowing how to palm-a-coin does not a magician make – knowing how to walk and talk at the same time does not an actor make.

If I were you I'd take a closer look at Houdin's quote "A Magician is an actor who is playing the part of a magician." There is a lot more truth hidden in that sentence than I think you realize.

Maybe if more magicians were actors, I wouldn't be seeing as many bad magic shows as I do on a regular basis.

Good or bad, magic is an art form – good or bad, magicians are artists – and in the community of artist, of which acting is a part, it's generally not a good idea to dismiss or belittle the other art forms and or the people who dedicate their lives to it. It's not polite and it makes you look and seem rather uneducated and foolish.

Poor form, very poor form.

[Guest]

I started reading Blaine's book because I wanted to win the money. But I finished reading it because I really enjoyed the material.

It was an intriguing look at Blane, a brief history of magic, and several famous magicians. The subjects covered were interesting and I learned some things about the art that I haven't read before.

I also found it interesting to "go inside Blane's head". He shared a lot of information about the stunts that he has performed and explains his motivation and determination to make it as a successful performer.

I would agree with Matthew Field's comment about the text being Ghost Written. There were some poor transitions and obvious changes in writing style. Also certain parts of the "magic history" section seemed to be lifted from other texts. But on a brighter note, this is my only criticism of the book.

I greatly enjoyed reading it, and would reccomend it to others.

[Guest]

Originally posted by Nelson Lugo:
And you, MaxNY, have offended me.

I'm also a trained actor and stage director so I also disagreed with MaxNY. GOOD acting is harder than most people think. However, one person who might have agreed with MaxNY would be Alfred Hitchcock, who also once said, "The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder." :)

[MaxNY]

I've got a really good idea where the orb is...I am taking Steve Cohen's advise and "not trying to think too much". I will be twisting balloons for Target at the Chelsea piers (68th?) Friday noon-4pm, Saturday 10am- 4 pm, Sunday 10am-4pm, Monday noon-4pm, come by, get a balloon, and I will share with you a picture I believe has the clue, BUT you will have to sign something that entiles me to half... I would search the place myself, but I am not in the city as often, since I am unemployed. Could be a rather large search, pretty much narrowed it down to about a half a block...ooopppss.

[Craig Matsuoka]

Originally posted by Brian Weidner:
It was an intriguing look at Blane, a brief history of magic, and several famous magicians.

What a coincidence. The new Blaine book mentions Matthew Buckinger. It appears you can include puzzle bottles among his many other talents. Check out this link and get "wigged out":

Buchinger\'s Puzzle Bottle

For goodness sake, is there anything the wonderful little man COULDN'T do?

[Bill Goldman]

I went to David's book signing in Coral Gables Florida the other night and talked briefly with him. The line was about 400 people long, a mixture of adults and children. A funny exchange occurred between us, but without doing the "voice," it wouldn't come across in type. The book? It looks great with terrific pictures and it really endears you to this poor kid who makes good. The author did a great job and David shows his appreciation. He seemed especially tall that night.

[Brian Marks]

Originally posted by Jackie H:

Originally posted by Nelson Lugo:
[b]And you, MaxNY, have offended me.

I'm also a trained actor and stage director so I also disagreed with MaxNY. GOOD acting is harder than most people think. However, one person who might have agreed with MaxNY would be Alfred Hitchcock, who also once said, "The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder." :) [/b]

David Mamet also agrees with MaxNY's sentiment in hisrecent book TRUe and False (I think I have the title right, I read the book and can't remeber the title) But iam also training as an actor and its alot harder than any magican knows.

[MaxNY]

Anybody else? Deer season opens is less than a week. You can target practise on me.
---The thing I like about message boards, is that they appear to encourage slander, and generalizations. I don't care to read agricultural
facts. I never said acting wasn't hard. Again, actors who play the part of magicians, will get typecast into the role of magicians...any director who cast Blaine into a different role, is taking a gamble. I can not appreciate the listing of other artists who have crossed-over. This bandwagoning form of persuasion isn't strong enough. Tell me reasons WHY you think this actor is capable of crossing-over. Do you think he is good with lines? He is handsome...he is very tall. Tall actors are at a disadvantage in Hollywood. Argue that actors are brain surgeons somewhere else.

[Guest]

ok, to take a little heat of Max, I think I have a good explanation for the success of David Blaine:

The strength of democracy: its people

gleefully donning asbestos suit,
Doug

[MaxNY]

Hey thanks Doug... I think. Whatever happened to the Canadian band Doug and the Slugs?

[Dustin Stinett]

Originally posted by MaxNY:
---The thing I like about message boards, is that they appear to encourage slander, and generalizations.

How does correcting the ignorance of your own generalized statements ("California exists because of Hollywood") illustrate slander?

(Of course, as I'm sure you meant, it isn't "slander" but "libel" that would appear on message boards, since the messages are written. "Slander" is spoken defamation.)

It seems to me that the comments made by those who have been offended by your generalized and unsupported comments in regard to actors have simply tried to point out your folly - hardly a libelous undertaking.

Dustin
(Supported by facts, even if they are boring, and would never expect to see Treat Williams actually perform brain surgery but thinks he's a fine actor.)

[Richard Kaufman]

Max, we don't allow libel on this board. If you think we do, you don't know the legal definition of the word. Perhaps you meant to say, "Character assasination," which we don't allow either. Generally.

[Guest]

I was so impressed by David Blaine's book. I read it without stopping. He is likely the writer of the manuscript as opposed to the suggestion that he used a ghost writer. I understand that he was set to go to an Ivy League school before his mother went into her final stages of the cancer that took her life. I was very impressed by the candor and how he shows his insecurities and self-doubt. It was refreshing and the magic history aspects of it were fantastic. I compare it to Gibson's The Master Magicians.

[Richard Kaufman]

Hi Tim, and welcome to the Forum. It's a fact that this guy Ratso ghost-wrote the book. When a known ghost-writer is thanked in the beginning of the book for helping turn ideas into words, this is standard code in the publishing world for something being ghost-written.
Obviously he was successful, since you feel as if Blaine himself wrote the book! It does not detract from the book if someone assisted Blaine in writing it. Obviously Bill Kalush had a hand in it, too. If the book is successful, then everyone did their job well.

[Guest]

Good point. I didn't pick up on that. It was well done.

[John McDonald]

Just finished the book. I relly enjoyed it.
It went beyond what I expected and David Blaine comes out well.

I think the book sets Blaine up as a modern day Houdini, looking for stunts to self publicise and perform magic.

People sometimes don't like Blaine's form of hit and run magic. I only had more admiration for him upon finishing the book as it seems that he and friends shot the film for the first special and spent a lot of time "selling" it to TV companies.

This is only wanting to do your best. People who prefer a different approach should learn from Blaines determination to showcase his magic.

As it happens I just love magic.

As for working out the clues to finding the prize, I am clueless!!! :confused:

Best wishes to all

John :D

[Jim Morton]

This is completely off topic, but I had to chuckle when I saw who started this thread. Oofty Goofty was a very famous character in old San Francisco. You can read about him in in Herbert Asbury's wonderful book The Barbary Coast. Asbury is also the author of Gangs of New York. Both are highly recommended, and both (thanks to the Scorsese film) are now back in print. Here is a web site containing the text from the book:

Oofty Goofty

Jim Morton