Can't handle seeing the same people in every L&L DVD

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 16th, 2007, 4:57 pm

I'm new to magic so of course I'm spending way too much money on magic. One big push over the last three months (instead of practicing) is buying tons of DVDs. One thing I can't handle any more is seeing the same 8 people in the audience of every DVD produced by L&L. Especially the one guy who acts (if that is the word) like his going to split a gut over every lame joke. Then there is the other guy who acts (again, if that is the right word) that he is going to die from being so stunned by what he has just seen.

I guess this inspires me to quickly learn what are on the DVDs so I never have to watch them again.

Can't take it any more! :eek:

Evan Shuster · Postby **Evan Shuster** » August 16th, 2007, 6:56 pm

Personally, I could watch Janel for days on end without ever getting bored.

:) !!!

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 16th, 2007, 7:48 pm

Simple solution, buy books instead.

Gord

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 16th, 2007, 7:52 pm

--But Gord, then you wouldn't get to see Cassandra...ahh, Cassandra...

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 16th, 2007, 9:27 pm

Then how about a magic book about Cassandra?
Solves both problems.

Gord

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 16th, 2007, 10:33 pm

Evan,

We might have to DUEL over Janel!

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 12:18 am

I understand your concern, but audience reactions probably shouldn't be your main focus when looking at the performance portions of the effects. There are a lot of subtle issues that can come up that often don't get covered properly during the explanation portion, such as working angles and creating the proper off-beats through timing and so forth.

Plus, one benefit of having these same audience members over and over again is that you can sometimes gauge the strength of a routine from their reactions relative to their reactions to other routines. As bad as some of them can be, after watching them long enough you really can tell when they're clapping out of courtesy and when they're genuinely amazed.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 1:50 am

This discussion has inspired me to look more closely for certain audience members. I have to admit there was a women (Janel?) in the front row of Al Schneider's matrix demo that caused much misdirection of my attention from Al's moves.

Matthew Field · Postby **Matthew Field** » August 17th, 2007, 2:21 am

L&L videos are shot in a smallish town and it's inevitable that the same people will come back again and again. I'm sure Louis Falanga enjoys having good looking people on camera. The problem is that, before very long, those people become performers themselves, not spectators. So what can we (or he) do?

I don't think there's much Louis can do. What we (or at least I) can do is basically ignore the spectators. They are there, I think, mainly to act as a foil for the magician to play against (or for). The magician is more likely to give a good (high energy) performance if there is a live audience, rather than just a cameraman and director.

So appreciate what you have, enjoy looking at the pretty women, and ignore John and the other people who know they're on camera and overreact to everything they see. Don't expect reactions like that to your performances, and don't gauge the effectiveness of an effect by this phony audience's responses.

L&L videos are still the standard of excellence in the magic industry (a cottage industry).

Matt Field

El Mystico · Postby **El Mystico** » August 17th, 2007, 2:57 am

I reckon L&L's next set of DVD releases should cover "The World's Greatest Spectators".

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 9:45 am

I've been invited to the Dr. Sawa filming that will be happening shortly and I've never been to a shooting before. So I'll be a new face :-)

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 10:02 am

Originally posted by gberard:
I've been invited to the [b]Dr. Sawa filming that will be happening shortly and I've never been to a shooting before. So I'll be a new face :-) [/b]

WOW, Sawa's doing a vide? Count me in for that set.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 11:02 am

erlandish, Your post was excellent. Who cares about the fake audience? When watching the performance we should act as another audience member. What is our reaction to each effect. That's all that will matter

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 11:13 am

Originally posted by erlandish:
I understand your concern, but audience reactions probably shouldn't be your main focus when looking at the performance portions of the effects. ...

um... what? I feel like the Geico Caveman reading that opinion.

What else might I care about when watching a performance of a routine?

I was under the impression that's why there is a performance segment and an audience.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 12:47 pm

The L&L videos have never been the same since Tania left.

Sigh....

Andrew

Harry Lorayne · Postby **Harry Lorayne** » August 17th, 2007, 1:12 pm

Interesting thread here. I don't think you'll see those same faces on my DVDs. And my ego wouldn't allow a lot of skin showing to take away from my work - I didn't want or need that kind of misdirection. Don't misunderstand - right time, right place, etc? HL

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 2:01 pm

OH, CASSANDRA!!

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 2:04 pm

I got tired too as others of seeing the same public(growing and changing hairstyles).Soma time ago I proposed the Owner (but never got a reply)to make a DVD to insert in GENII with the roles exchanged......after so many views they must have some experience by now !Would it be nice this ?
Alessandro.

Ryan Matney · Postby **Ryan Matney** » August 17th, 2007, 3:02 pm

That blonde girl on the John Mendoza set is really something to look at.

I kinda enjoy seeing some of the same people at some of the sets.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 4:14 pm

Hey, I think we just found a new way for L&L to sell more DVDs; on the jacket of each DVD, clearly announce which attractive audience person appears on the DVD. In fact, they might want to decrease the size of font of the performer's name and increase the font of the audience member featured.

Perhaps they could put in chapter headings based on the appearance of various audience members.

Genii reviews could include a star rating for each DVD based on the attractiveness of the auidence and the frequency certain members appear. We need to bring this to Richard's attention.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 4:42 pm

Originally posted by gegood:
Hey, I think we just found a new way for L&L to sell more DVDs; on the jacket of each DVD, clearly announce which attractive audience person appears on the DVD. In fact, they might want to ...

adult movies? make adult movies?

I can imagine box art featuring text like:

"Watching tricks with Janel volume 4 featuring david regal and ... watch her eyes go wide when he shows her what's in the cardbox..."

sounds like a plan.

Evan Shuster · Postby **Evan Shuster** » August 17th, 2007, 6:22 pm

Originally posted by MagicManCT:
Evan,

We might have to DUEL over Janel!

LOL! I'm ready for ya! :)

On another note...
A new Sawa taping?? That's the best news I've heard in a long time. Much like Harry, Sawa is a man who needs no additional distraction of attention to produce miracles.

Richard Kaufman · Postby **Richard Kaufman** » August 17th, 2007, 7:13 pm

Sawa will be in Lake Tahoe at the end of this month to make four or five DVDs with all of his new coin magic (which he's been inventing like crazy for the past few years).

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 7:31 pm

Any word on if Max Maven will be translating as he did on the Stevens videos, or ???

I would get on a plane to see Dr. Sawa, and I haven't flown for almost twenty years...

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 17th, 2007, 7:57 pm

Richard, will he be performnig anywhere in Tahoe?

Richard Kaufman · Postby **Richard Kaufman** » August 17th, 2007, 8:58 pm

Yes, Max will be there. Not sure if he's translating, but it's likely.

No, Sawa will not be performing anywhere on this trip to the best of my knowledge.

He WILL be performing at the combined IBM/SAM convention in Louisville next summer along with Hiro Sakai.

Terry · Postby **Terry** » August 18th, 2007, 4:23 am

Hey, I think we just found a new way for L&L to sell more DVDs; on the jacket of each DVD, clearly announce which attractive audience person appears on the DVD.

Don't joke about that. Considering some of the videos are a great cure for insomnia, looking at pretty girls keeps one interested.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 18th, 2007, 8:19 am

I find Janel (sp? Janelle?) and Dusty inspiring, because I keep thinking, "Gee, if I ever make it to Lake Tahoe, what can I do to impress these two?"

--Josh

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 23rd, 2007, 7:42 pm

Youll be OK. Have you ever seen an effect not impress them?

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 28th, 2007, 3:02 pm

The heck with the Magic Castle calendar that come out every year, how about a "Girls Of L & L".

Free with every $50. order?

Terry · Postby **Terry** » August 29th, 2007, 1:34 pm

The heck with the Magic Castle calendar that come out every year, how about a "Girls Of L & L".

Each month could be dedicated for a different branch of magic:

January - Cards covering strategic spots.
February - Silks covering strategic spots.
March - Mentalist - hot shots of grey matter (mind reading - get it?)

Steve Snediker · Postby **Steve Snediker** » August 29th, 2007, 2:14 pm

This whole discussion just proves how hard up we magicians really are.

BTW, for me it's a toss-up between Cassandra and "the leggy blonde."

Now I digress...

Flight of the Concordes - Leggy Blonde

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 30th, 2007, 8:40 am

I think I need to stop watching Judge Judy and Dr Phil and spend more time on my L&L DVD's.

Boy the things I must be missing!!!

Adrian

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 30th, 2007, 11:08 am

Mr. Snediker:
Thank you for that classic video clip--very good.

Also ElliottB's observation has given me serious new confidence! I am moving to Tahoe and trying to win Cassandra with my finger chopper, snapper, and (never fails) plastic ice cube with a bug in it. I am IN!

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 30th, 2007, 11:51 am

Given the constancey of the L&L audience composition, why not use them to gage how your audiences will react to the material presented?

If you know how they tend to react you can get a feel for what the difference between how you feel about a piece, how they react to it and from that maybe even get a feel for what you might need to do in order to get the reaction you want from the item.

Terry · Postby **Terry** » August 30th, 2007, 1:20 pm

Cassandra with my...snapper...I am IN!

You said snapper. . . :eek:

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 30th, 2007, 2:02 pm

If you don't want to see the same people you've seen before in an L&L DVD, get Max Maven's "Nothing" 2 DVD set. He makes a special point in the beginning to say that all the spectators are new and have not been in an L&L video before. I've seen dozens of L&L videos and all the faces for that show were brand new. The video is great also! "Just Chintz" is one of my favorite rountines from the DVD. Speaking of seeing people, on that video you also have Eugene Burger, Brandon Combs, Gene Matsuura, Stephen Minch, and Jan Rose.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 30th, 2007, 2:41 pm

Oh, I'm serious (remember, everything on this Forum had better be serious!)--my 5 phase snapper routine always makes an impression. (rimshot)
Thank you!

--Whoa!--gotta go, we're really veering into the blue material here aren't we! Ha ha! Sorry folks.

But they love that stuff in Tahoe.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » August 31st, 2007, 10:59 am

I like the spectators. How about that one guy he always sits to the right of the table. Is that Jamal? I was laughing so hard at the end of Johnny Thompson when he is trying to put a coin into a bottle. He cracks me up no matter what he is in.

Guest · Postby **Guest** » September 2nd, 2007, 5:43 am

Hats off to Jay Sankey! I watched the L&L World Greatest Magic DVD on Finger Ring Magic and Jay Sankey mocks the horrible "actor" that L&L puts in the front row. Of course, this "actor" was told to show interest but he has taken this assignment to showing interest over the top, buffon like over reaction that competes with the performer for attention. Sankey identified the elephant in the room and said more than one thing about it. Thank you Jay for at least recognizing reality while the L&L ignores it.