The Genii Forum

Tom Moore

But the business model for masterclass is all about pushing users to the “everything” subscription which enables users to view all the masterclass programs so in exactly the same way as with YouTube there’s a very large number of masterclass users who are paying to view Ron Howard or Steve Martin vi...

Tom Moore

If you pay, then it's not exposure. Paying makes you a student. So to play devils advocate for a moment; I have a YouTube premium subscription (which means i can watch all their content without any adverts or pop ups) and many of the popular YouTube videos the revenue from advertising or subscripti...

Tom Moore

I've never quite understood what the magical effect is with this sort of thing. I can thread needles with my bowels? I'm impervious to stupidity? I'm pretty certain that whilst most magicians think the trick they are presenting it "i can tie stuff on cotton with my stomach" that most audi...

Tom Moore

No one now has any hands on experience with razor blades as used in the truck or any real context of how dangerous they /should/ be whilst the handling of the blades by almost every performer who does this effect proves to the audience that they clearly aren’t very sharp or dangerous after all. Sinc...

Tom Moore

My guess, since they know what the steps are going to be, is that they have the first three appearances figured out before they start. Most of the magic acts and circus acts on BGT this year have been “booked” rather than found and have a story arc consultant/producer responsible for ensuring they ...

Tom Moore

Whilst i can't say for certain it is clear from the techniques he created for Film FX that he had a very strong working knowledge of black art. His mentors were all also experienced at BA though also all had very strong engineering/mechanical backgrounds - Maskelyne, deKolta, Robert-Houdin and he re...

Tom Moore

I’d love to read more of tom’s insights on the actual goings on in the biz. A short but content laden weekly or bi weekly newsletter would be cool - like the old PW torch from back in the day. That’s very kind of you to say - this sort of information and narrative is the bread and butter of our day...

Tom Moore

Despite the marketing hype the original show at Luxor was never sold out (I don’t know a single person who saw the show and wasn’t upgraded or witnessed chunks of audience being upgraded) despite the fact it is legitimately a good VEGAS show with some great moment. 5 shows per week is a much more at...

Tom Moore

I believe they are essentially 4-walling though on a slightly sweeter deal than is normal. The marketing uptick from doing FoolUs and their regular appearances on other tv shows are part of a deliberate promotional strategy that seems to have worked as they are producing very solid sales levels. I w...

Tom Moore

Famously Mac King is on something closer to an old-school contract. Donnie & Marie are on old school terms (but about to close permanently) outside of that i can't think of anyone who's on the traditional contract. The big Music star residencies are in a way - each of the mega theatres is operat...

Tom Moore

For anyone that /wasn't/ cirque the Vegas dream died 15 years ago as that's when it all switched to 4-walling and took away the incentives for the casinos to help ensure the show was a success. Cirque managed to tread water for the last 10 years but it's worth noting over that period they closed as ...

Tom Moore

I was literally in the middle of a project With him and there was never any hint of illness or problems. He leaves behind three children who he loved more then words could express.

Tom Moore

Well the name and the key traits of the character (wearing a turban of his dads, wearing a kimono of his mum, playing the part of a crazy eastern mystic inspired by films popular at the time) are all developed at the same time in a panto performance. So if in 1947 he was using the name “ali bongo” t...

Tom Moore

Probably best not to get your facts off wikipedia Mark - technically his first network TV appearance was Good Old Days in 1965 but here is a Pathe newsreel recorded early 1964 which shows him performing what is clearly a well established act https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sclA7D4WO_I I have seen ea...

Tom Moore

Ali was born in 1929 Medway magic society was founded shortly after WW2 By the early 1960’s Ali is appearing on tv & newsreels with his very developed and well known act by an established performer; not as a newcomer trying out something new. So absolutely nothing you’ve claimed is correct mark.

Tom Moore

Only if amongst everything else he invented there was a time machine. The ali bongo character was established and working in the late 1940’s, milo and roger don’t start their career until the late 50’s. since they were all of a similar age it’s much more likely they all took similar experiences and ...

Tom Moore

Actually (and I’m worried how old this makes me feel) the zombie was still relatively contemporary when this special was shot and Norm’s act was considered incredibly cutting edge and dynamic at the time. Vincent Price made several tv magic special appearances around this period - there was a handfu...

Tom Moore

It’s just been confirmed that “plus grand cabaret du monde” (the biggest cabaret in the world) European tv show will end after the current season. It’s hard to explain what a cultural institution this show is - a 2 hour show of pure variety (with 3-4 magic acts every episode) and no gimmicks other t...

Tom Moore

There are plenty of megastar magicians in Europe equally as famous as those guys in their respective territories. There are plenty of magicians in Europe selling similar ticket numbers as those guys do. Again though focusing on the outliers is to miss the bigger picture; in the middle there are lite...

Tom Moore

Magic in Europe is valued much higher than the US. Obviously there are exceptions but generally the magic theatres in Europe are high end offerings selling a luxurious premium product to a select audience; not a family entertainment product. Magic theatres are in the special party & corporate ho...

Tom Moore

There's very little video of him as he really was all about live performance and honing his repertoire - the other video worth watching is the documentary of him from 1983. He's in his late 60's so past his prime but still has the spark that made him great and its good to see how he addressed the is...

Tom Moore

Oh I love everything he’s ever done but in this show in particular they’ve clearly really worked hard to make this performance really pop.

Tom Moore

Someone has helpfully uploaded the 1982 TV special "Magic with the stars" to youtube and it is well worth watching https://youtu.be/GrSrEiBG3-s there's the usual 1980's issues (it's crammed with too many cameo's and there's a dance number in between everything) but aside from that it has s...

Tom Moore

More often than not it’s because producers get paid less.... but that the title sounds illustrious and like a promotion for the individual concerned so in lieu of pay rises tv shows give the talent credits as head writer or producer, maybe employs their friends/partners in minor staffing roles and l...

Tom Moore

There's several different techniques here rolled in to one. Using the 3 graces plot with a kicker animal production facilitated by the million dollar mystery method is basically a creation of the Henning team. Prior to them the 3 graces plot was used with other production boxes, was used with other ...

Tom Moore

I will repeat though that “impossible” which ran for several months in the west end got plenty of standing ovations. A British magic show, with predominantly British performers and a predominantly British audience.

Tom Moore

But I AM qualified! I was doing magic when you were breastfeeding and to date I have never seen a magician getting a standing ovation except where other magicians have been present. And I bet nobody else here has either. You have made an extraordinary statement and I rather think that requires extr...

Tom Moore

I repeat. I have NEVER seen a magician getting a standing ovation from an audience of laymen. Most of the big las vegas magic shows have standing ovations Virtually every illusion act working on cruise ships (that i design/write/direct for) get consistent standing ovations. The big touring magic sh...

Tom Moore

I have a theory that most of these iconic / legacy conventions have built their entire existence around stage shows / performers yet the quality and availability of good stage performers has dropped off a cliff in the last 20 years which means that these conventions don’t have any wow or novelty fac...

Tom Moore

He sold the act to Penn & Teller who now perform it nightly in their show as "tomsoni & co"

Tom Moore

I wouldn’t say that it’s common, but it certainly has been done. A contemporary example would be Jerome Murat, whose statue act is currently being performed by three different people, internationally. The originator still does the act, but all three performers work under the same name. I’d politely...

Tom Moore

There are officially sanctioned “franchise” stage magic acts - a stage act that you can book all over the world but which is physically performed by different people in each country; often using the same performer name so that the audience thinks they are seeing the same act. Of course there are als...

Tom Moore

The "bounce" required to release can be eliminated through a combination of assistant strength and using a different locking mechanism - most people use a simple ratchet system made out of steel; I designed (and i'm quite sure others have created similar solutions) a locking system made ou...

Tom Moore

There's a cool illustration of Robert-Houdin doing this "Ethereal Suspension" in Christopher's Panorama of Magic, which also includes the kicker. That’ll be because he invented it.... as P&T alluded what was presents in the show was almost exactly the original Houdin trick even down t...

Tom Moore

Surprisingly enough almost every assumption you've made about my career, experience, financial motives, how/why i'm employed and what i spend a very large chunk of my time doing is completely and totally wrong Mark but as you've made it clear you're not interested in behaving like a grownup i'll duc...

Tom Moore

Let’s try to cut down on the insults mark - there’s a fine topic here to discuss and you don’t need to ruin it by calling anyone who disagrees with you names. I’m curious about your data - yes some people shout they’ve looked something up on YouTube but I’m not convinced it’s significantly more than...

Tom Moore

So a serious question - how is the local library stocking magic books different to YouTube? My local library in the tiny village I grew up in had loads of magic books (not just the absolute beginners ones- they had illusions and stage magic) that were decades old so had exactly the same “permanence”...

Tom Moore

Perhaps he will change his mind when some teenager exposes all HIS designs for illusions on You Tube. ....and thus you prove my point. I’m moderately successful with 27yrs in this business and yet my stuff isn’t routinely exposed on YouTube precisely because I focus on creating unique, different an...

Tom Moore

YouTube’s entire business is driving people to their website to watch the adverts that surround the videos they host; that is their reason for existing. The CEO has a legal obligation to promote and encourage the business’s actual business - ie it is her job to do anything she can (legally) to get p...

Tom Moore

You should probably check you ego in at the door here Mark - I speak as someone who earns 100% of his income from magic, also employs 4 full time staff and several dozen casual staff all from magic money so I’d hazard that I and many other members in here have considerably more to loose from exposur...

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