When Good Magicians Go BAD!

[Matt R]

An article on famous magical screw-ups. Posting in the stage /platform section seemed most appropriate although some examples are not stage or platform.

http://magicgizmo.com/home/Showmanship/ ... o-bad.html

[Mark Lewis]

Whenever I perform close up magic I screw up EVERY time. I have never once in my life done any kind of performance without some mistake or other. I force cards on people and forget what cards I forced on them, I frequently lose track of controlled cards, tricks go wrong on a frequent basis and so on and since I am on a Robert Burns kick at the moment "with more of horrible and awful, which but to name would be unlawful"

And yet none of the above makes the blindest bit of difference to the strong reaction I get from laymen. In fact it actually helps. You don't have to be perfect. You have to be human. And messing things up can make the audience like you more because you have removed the resentment factor that magicians are prone to from laymen.

Faults are not a big deal. They really don't matter in the great scheme of things. It is lack of virtues that can do you in. And of course many, many magicians are done in. They may be perfect and faultless but they have no soul. Just TOO perfect instead of showing a little humanity.

That is MY version of the "too perfect" theory.