Jason Ladanye

[alexcsurko]

What do you think of him?

If you don't know who he is, look him up in YouTube. .

[Brad Henderson]

is this what guerrilla marketing passes for these days ?

[alexcsurko]

No, i just really like his work and wondered what other people thought.

[Bill Mullins]

"Guerilla marketing" -- I have this mental image of Che Guevera pushing Amway.

[performer]

Are you he? I suppose you must be. Very well-I will exert myself to look at the chap.

[performer]

I watched him. He isn't terrible although he does look a mite too pleased with himself and talks a tiny bit too much as most American close up magicians do. And I do wish he wouldn't keep saying, "you are doing a great job" but apart from that I have no particular objection to him. He gets the job done.

[alexcsurko]

Are you he? I suppose you must be. Very well-I will exert myself to look at the chap.

I am not he, but i am very interested in his work

[Brad Henderson]

why?

[Jonathan Townsend]

why?

But Brad, really, what compels a publication in our craft?

[Brad Henderson]

quest for fame in a small pond and tint financial reward.

but that's not why I asked.

I'm curious why he is interested in this fellow. he wants to know what we think - I'm more curious in his thinking.

sincerely.

what has he seen that would make him want to ask what we think? what has he seen that might lead me to bother looking up this person?

and, based on his interests, should I bother to check this person out, I can have a better idea how to answer his original question - assuming it is genuine and not just an attempt to funnel views to his friends YouTube account.

[brianarudolph]

"Guerilla marketing" -- I have this mental image of Che Guevera pushing Amway.

American Tourister tried something like guerrilla marketing years ago. It was just spelled a little differently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C-e96m4730

Jason's performing personality is not exactly my cup of tea, but I do like a number of his effect premises. He's a protege of Darwin Ortiz, isn't he? I think I can detect Darwin's influence in some of his patter and structuring, as well as in the technical work.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Darwin's attention to fine detail in technique, routining and theory stands without need of a chorus, sock puppet or otherwise. One might compare his work to alchemy - refining the base elements of items from old books into usable gold.

* about the "have you seen" schema...
@Brad, BS (or "shenanigans") on that entire line of thinking. If there were something specific or inspirational, affecting one person's work or thinking about magic they'd be forthright about the matter, context and current results. That's grade school level writing for the sincere and advanced ad copy for the venal.

Here's an on-the-fly attempt at decode for the truly naive:
"I feel so clever for having learned x that now instead of using what I learned to share magic with others I'm going to seek reflected adulation for telling others about that thing but also teasing just what it is since that way I can feel special for having a new secret." Do the fifteenth through twenty second digits of pi make you feel elated? Great. As Mrs. Brown puts it - "that's nice".

[erdnasephile]

OP: Thanks for posting this--I hadn't heard of Mr. Ladanye before and enjoyed his material. I just purchased his book.

[performer]

Oh well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,You got one punter anyway. Perhaps you should post a video of his/your work and you might get another one. If that happens just say, "good job!"

[erdnasephile]

From what I could find on-line, I gather you are calling me a "sucker," Mr. Lewis.

Hardly--I happen to like (and have used) material from the Ortiz/Vincent/Swain/Wimhurst group. Mr. Ladanye's material seems of similar construction which appeals to me. I did a bit more research on line about the book, and decided the odds were good I'd probably enjoy studying the material. Hence, the purchase.

[performer]

Nowhere did I say you were a "sucker" old chap. I said you were a "punter". That is grafter's language for "customer". One mustn't jump to conclusions you know. I already stated that I did not see anything particularly wrong with the gentleman's work. However, if you like I can look into it further and do a bit of nitpicking for you.

[erdnasephile]

I understand--my apologies for misinterpreting the term.

[performer]

Oh, here you all are. This is the video I watched. I shall resist the temptation to say "great job". I shall leave that to him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuGRA4nBV2Q

[Brad Henderson]

I'm sure he's a charming and engaging person in real life

[performer]

I'm sure he's a charming and engaging person in real life

Uh oh, is that a veiled insult that only the perceptive are meant to pick up on? Or perhaps it is I who is jumping to conclusions on this occasion? It does sound like you are hinting that his performance personality is not "charming and engaging!"

[Brad Henderson]

I didn't care for it. He doesn't appear to have considered what he is saying. He offers nothing of interest as a character let alone a human being. (referring to his performance only.) He also falls prey to one of my pet peeves - almost all of his words are in the future tense. magic (all drama for that matter) occurs in tne present tense. we tend to put it in the future tense ('i will ask you to sign the card' as opposed to 'please sign tne card' ) and thereby we fail to perform the magic but instead merely comment on it.

he would do well by asking someone to transcribe what he says verbatim and then read it. he would see, I would hope, how he is merely mouthing sounds that signify nothing.

but I have no doubt that he's a lovely person. Someday perhaps he will develop the confidence and self awareness to allow that to show in his work.

[brianarudolph]

He also falls prey to one of my pet peeves - almost all of his words are in the future tense.

That was certainly a part of my reaction to his presentation too.

If we could eliminate future tense along with the unnecessarily narrative style of patter ("I'm going to take this ball and put it in my hand" rather than just simply taking the danged ball and putting it in your danged hand***) millions of performances would instantly improve.

*** Ignoring for a minute that by displaying a ball that's already in one hand you've already accomplished what you said you were going to do in the not too distant future, with the other hand now being redundant. This equally applies to the case where you pick up a ball off a table with the wrong hand instead of the desired hand from the get-go.

[performer]

Ah, it seems that I don't have to nitpick after all......................................

Still, I have always said that you should not judge a magician on one performance only. You need to see him several times. Here is another video. I have not watched it myself and am not qualified to nitpick on this occasion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRXioZuEamI

With regard to the other video I am not inclined to do backward somersaults over him but I have to say that I have seen far, far worse.

[performer]

Oh dear! I just watched the second video and got up to one minute and 11 seconds. I am most disapproving of the remarks he made at that point first to the male spectator about how talented he was and then to the female about how talented and good looking he was. That was the daftest thing to say imaginable and turned me off from watching the rest of the trick.

Still, I keep trying to like him but can't quite manage it yet. I will keep trying. I have a feeling that he isn't so "charming and engaging" in real life. I am getting a sense of a massive ego particularly from the self praise in the video description which he must have written himself. I would be very happy to act as a role model for him in humility and exhibiting a modest disposition.

I think he has potential to be very good indeed. Alas there is something missing. Something not quite right. Possibly the descriptive patter. Possibly performing AT the people rather than with them. Possibly this, possibly that. I can't quite put my finger on it. Still, he is young and will probably make it in the end.

[erdnasephile]

You guys are a tough crowd! I actually liked this handling of Open Travelers. Although the presentation is fairly standard, there are some nice finesse points in the routine I'm interested in studying.

[brianarudolph]

Alas there is something missing. Something not quite right. Possibly the descriptive patter. Possibly performing AT the people rather than with them. Possibly this, possibly that. I can't quite put my finger on it. Still, he is young and will probably make it in the end.

I think another part of it could be that Jason is perhaps imitating his master (Darwin Ortiz) a little too well, meaning not only in terms of technique but also in terms of his patter and cadence. As I watch Jason's videos, it's not too difficult to imagine Darwin saying many of the same things in the same way. For lack of a better term, Jason just doesn't seem to be presenting a genuine personality (either his own or his character's) but rather seems to be presenting someone else's (Darwin's or whomever.) Perhaps he just needs more time to "find himself" in this regard so to speak. But he's certainly accomplished on the technical side.

I love to watch all kinds of card men from Lennart Green to Harry Lorayne to Juan Tamariz and so many, many others. But I'd never try to present the effects of theirs that I do using their patter and/or personalities/characters exactly or near exactly as they do. It just wouldn't work for me overall (not to mention what people who have seen those greats would think when they saw my aping of them.) And even where I might be able to get away with one or two such cloned performances, it wouldn't lead to a consistent character/presentation during my set.

[Dustin Stinett]

FYI: Mr. Ladanye will be lecturing at The Magic Castle in September.

[Brad Henderson]

Darwin's rule seems not to apply to this invisible palm routine. what in it do you feel enhances or transcends every version that has come before?

my biggest criticism of that performance would be that not only did he fail to make me care, he failed to convince me that he believed what he was claiming to do.

[erdnasephile]

FYI: Mr. Ladanye will be lecturing at The Magic Castle in September.

He's also doing this Murphy's At the Table "Live Lecture" in September: https://vanishingincmagic.com/magic-dow ... e-lecture/

(Are these two events one and the same?)

[erdnasephile]

I think another part of it could be that Jason is perhaps imitating his master (Darwin Ortiz) a little too well, meaning not only in terms of technique but also in terms of his patter and cadence...

He does sound a lot like Mr. Ortiz. However, I'll not judge him. After all, there were a bunch of Slydini students who sounded a whole lot like Slydini in the 70's. I'm suspect what Mr. Rudolph suggests will eventually come true.

Another FYI: For John G's take on Mr. Ladanye's DVD set (where he also touches a bit on the issue raised), please see Genii, Dec 2015, pg 98-99.

[performer]

Many magicians have told me that Darwin Ortiz is extremely boring. I therefore checked him out and he is nowhere near as bad as they all tell me he is. He is much more pleasant and gentle than Jason for example. However, since this forum is full of nitpickers I might as well do a bit of it myself. Come to think of it I have often wondered whether the GENII forum is an abbreviation for the Goading Egotistical Nitpicking Incorrect Information forum but I shall let that pass for a moment.

I only have one nit to pick with Darwin. That is that he talks too much before the trick starts. I have seen many, many, many noted worthies do this and it makes me cringe. People are liable to fall asleep with that kind of thing. You can't mess about yapping for a full minute or even longer before you start the bloody trick. You have to get on with the bloody thing before attention is lost. And if you are doing this for every single trick you do may God and the audience have mercy on your soul.

I consider his book, "Strong Magic" to be absolutely wonderful thinking. However, I did come across an example of this long winded preamble therein and I thought he wasn't serious. Alas he was.

There. I must say I have become awfully restrained lately with my nitpicking. I shall leave it to the others here to say rude things if they wish. I am practically an angel nowadays.

[Paul Cummins]

Interesting to me was that, in his Invisible Palm routine, he pushes the newly arriving ace to his left, rather than to the right, as in every other version of this effect I've seen. It looks really good as there is no 'sweeping' motion of his right hand over the packet. Small detail, but I love small details!

[erdnasephile]

Interesting to me was that, in his Invisible Palm routine, he pushes the newly arriving ace to his left, rather than to the right, as in every other version of this effect I've seen. It looks really good as there is no 'sweeping' motion of his right hand over the packet. Small detail, but I love small details!

Yes, exactly--he also does it with kind of a "stamping" motion that looks better than just about everyone else I've seen do this type of routine. The one exception is Meir Yedid's unpublished (I think) handling where he gives the impression that the card is just popping out from the palm.

[Ian Kendall]

George McBride showed me a handling years ago that had no sweeping action at all, but the card appeared unaligned. It would be hard for me to forego this for a different technique, TBH...

[Richard Kaufman]

There should never be a sweeping motion of the hand. If the right hand is held so the palm faces left, and the lower side of the hand descends onto the double card, when the hand is turned palm down and lowered the cards will spread. There is no right/left action of any kind. This was shown to me by Gene Maze in 1973 or 4.

Several of us, in the mid 1970s (Meir may have been among them), played with the idea of having the "invisible" Ace drop visibly from the palm after the hand had been shown empty. It's an obvious idea if you have moist hands (which we did when young). You simply put your hand flatly onto the double card and the uppermost one will stick to the palm. Raise the hand a foot and then contract the palm muscles slightly and the card will drop to the table.

[Bill Duncan]

I'm amazed the Genii regulars didn't know of Jason's work. His YouTube channel is almost three years old, and Vanishing Inc promoted his book and still sells it. The book was reviewed in Genii.

I understand Mark, he doesn't read books from this century, but Brad? I thought you got around more...

[erdnasephile]

I'm amazed the Genii regulars didn't know of Jason's work. His YouTube channel is almost three years old, and Vanishing Inc promoted his book and still sells it. The book was reviewed in Genii.

Bill: do you happen to know what Genii issue the book is reviewed in please? Thanks!

[performer]

It is true that I do not read books from this century. I don't think I have read a single one. I did buy the Berglas book but have hardly read it. I just looked at the Cigarette trick described in the DVD and that was about it.

As for the last century there is of course more choice for me as there is a full 100 years to choose from rather than the measly 16 years of this century.

However, there is very little from the second half of the last century. I very rarely read books written after 1954. And I suggest some of the dafter people here investigate books from before that time. They will learn a lot. And one of the things they will learn is that all this allegedly newer stuff is old stuff rehashed.

[Brad Henderson]

I'm amazed the Genii regulars didn't know of Jason's work. His YouTube channel is almost three years old, and Vanishing Inc promoted his book and still sells it. The book was reviewed in Genii.

I understand Mark, he doesn't read books from this century, but Brad? I thought you got around more...

I had heard of him but didn't recognize the name immediately because what I had heard did not make me interested enough to remember it. I was told he did card tricks in a manner similar to Darwin. as I have no desire to do card tricks in a manner similar to Darwin I didn't pursue matters further. If
I want to do card tricks in a manner similar to Darwin I will go to Darwin but I'd much rather do card tricks in a manner more similar to me. Darwin is already a better Darwin than any of us would be. He fills the Darwin needs of the world perfectly. I can't see the purpose of contributing to an excess of that.

having said that, I don't spend time on other magicians 'YouTube' channels. If there is someone I want to see, I will make the effort to see them live. I want to see someone's work in action, how they create in real time - not their commercial.

[performer]

I fully agree with Brad's last sentence. Videos are all very well but you really have to see someone perform LIVE to fully appreciate or more likely not appreciate them. And see them more than once to be sure.