The Genii Forum

OK. I was wondering who everyone would consider the greatest all-around magician living today? All-around meaning, they are envolved in many different aspects of magic and are very respected in all areas.

My vote goes to John Carney. Great in close-up & stage and very, very, well respected.

That's a tough one. I can narrow it down to two, Max Maven and Tommy Wonder.

This indeed is a tough one because a stringent criteria has not been established, coupled with the problem of quantification and qualification.

I agree that Carney, Wonder, and Maven are surely in the running. Odd that no one so far has mentioned Johnny Thompson, Gaeton Bloom, among others...

Johnny T is the veteran whose talents and statecraft overlap into acting, musicianship, comedian, writer, as well as being proficient in EVERY ASPECT of magic...

Alas, let's not forget Jasper Marshall...our elder, elder dean and one-eyed Gandolph of the Ages...He not only has done it all, he created genres that didn't exist until he came along...
Heck, Jasper even does Troublewit, Origami, and Punch and Judy...

Onward...

It's practically impossible to decide who is the world's greatest at anything. Much easier to agree on a top ten and then let people rearrange them to their liking.

Some other names to add to the pot:

Billy McComb
John Calvert
David Copperfield

And someone who performs close up, cabaret, full theatre shows with illusions and seventeen years of television series experience - Paul Daniels.

My vote goes to Maven. Not only does his knowledge rival anyone in the magic community but, he is very recognizable to lay audiences as well.

Keep it coming, this could get very interesting.

I'll second Johnny Thompson!

Bob

I always kid Johnny Thompson about this... I tell him, "John, since Kaps died, I would say you could be the known as the best all-around magical performer, if it wasn't for your personality."

Kidding aside... I go with John as he can do it all, close-up, stage, tv, you name it and his knowledge base is incredible.

The name I would add to the list (because I think its impossible to name only one) may come as a surprise to some. His knowledge (and love for) of history is just now becoming common knowledge due to his recent writings (much to our good fortune) and his skill in many aspects of conjuring is downplayedas it should be: Teller.

Dustin

If we can only vote for one then I too must vote for Max Maven. And long live Max Maven!!!
-=tabman

Two Words:

John Carney!

I would add to the above mentioned magicians: Armando Lucero.

Jacky
www.magicbooks.be

Geez, I'd have to say a toss up between Johnny Thompson and Maven.
Steve V

As a further thought, why not compile a list of the top ten, get them all together and get them each to perform a close-up set, a stand-up set and a stage set and let an audience decide.

Or pick a number of non-magician judges from the entertainment industry, agents, managers, producers and promoters and let them decide.

Four words:

Two Words:

John Carney!

I vote also for Johnny Thompson. He can do it all and do it very well.

Difficult decision here. I love everyone mentioned. Have had the pleasure of seeing most of them work live. But if I must name one, it has to be Tommy Wonder hands down.
Pepka

What about the vast amount of great material that max Maven has released to the magic community. I think it puts him a few steps ahead.

Vanilla is still the best flavor of ice cream cause it sells the most.

There is no disputing matters of taste.

So what exactly does that mean. If his material was [censored] I would not even vote for him. But I'm sure there are enough people here that will agree that he is someone to admire and learn from.
By the way I remember hearing something about the greatest influences in magic in the past 100 years. I heard Max Maven was on the list but I don't remember hearing Jonathan Townsend.

JT, McComb, Max, Pat Page...Anyone of these works. Lance isn't too shabby...Copperfield isn't too shabby either. Mr. Electric, a dark-horse favorite. If I had to pick one "objectively" it would be Copperfield. If I had to pick one "subjectively" it would be Pat Page with JT a real close second and possibly first depending on how you count the chads. That's how close they would be....P.S., I'm not sure I could explain what all of the above means if asked.

Originally posted by sphaleros:
So what exactly does that mean.

One usually writes a question by ending the sentence with a question mark.

The notion of "best" is context dependent as nothing that exists is also a Platonic ideal.

From there we also may wish to consider that each person has their own perspective and tastes, and so such questions as "best driver" have no basis for objective answer.

But we all scream for ice cream. :D

Me , Myself and I

Ricky Jay. No contest.

Rene Lavand close up.
David Copperfield stage.

Overall? Johnny Thompson.

Teller

I'm not picking as I can never make up my mind to these sort of things, and you've all picked fabulous magicians such as Tommy Wonder and Johnny Thompson.

But for those inclined on picking the world's greatest all around magician--and I'm not sure why you're doing it since there's no cash prize involved--you ought to consider David Ben for the title. He performs extremely well on stage and close-up, is appreciated by magicians and non-magicians and has a 5th degree black belt in sleight of hand. He is also the type of magician who makes people realize that magic is special.

Jeremy

David Ben

Let's organise a 'Decathlon of Magic' for the candidates to compete in, and see who scores the most points after the completion of the ten events.

The winner will be awared the title of 'The Bruce Jenner of Magic'.

Originally posted by John Pezzullo:
...The winner will be awarded the title of 'The Bruce Jenner of Magic'.

The winner gets a bad haircut, seven medals, face on a box of Wheaties and world wide recognition as a has been? Oh yeah... and then come the degrading infomercials.

It might be more useful for the fans to make comment on those magicians they have learned the most from. That could include in person, by video and from reading. There is still no "best" however we could discuss what we learned.

Originally posted by Jonathan Townsend:
It might be more useful for the fans to make comment on those magicians they have learned the most from. That could include in person, by video and from reading.

In person, there's no question that I've learned the most from Wesley James.

Through video, the performances of Bill Malone and Tommy Wonder have been very enlightening.

Via books, there's countless influences, but some of the tops are: Dai Vernon (but then, he should be on everyone's list), Nate Leipzig, Al Baker, Roberto Giobbi, and Eugene Burger.

I would pick Johnny Thompson as the greatest all around magician living today. I love his close up as well as his stage act...

Originally posted by Brian Marks:
David Ben

Bah, Ben.


Just kidding Mr. Ben. Don't eat me.

Personally I think Tommy Wonder is a modern Slydini.
Teller is briliant, in general and in magic. He is like an encyclopedia.
And Coperfield was great as an allaround Magician. He did a LOT for magic, but I am not so impressed with him anymore. He revamped the image of the magician in the past and did a wonderfull job, but now he doesn't seem to be putting that kind of thought into it anymore. But in his hayday I think he was actually something else. And not just based on him being a household name. He deserved to be a household name. Unfortunatly there are mane others who do too but the aren't.

Sorry to sound like I'm raving about Copperfield, I just think he did a lot as a magician back then.

Let's not overlook Juan Tamariz. He's proven himself to both magicians and the public, and done it in every venue available.

I dont know if I can really suggest a greatest magician so here are magicians I have learned the most from & some of what they taught me:

Simon Lovell: taught me to talk to the crowd, an important skill over looked.

Max Maven: devious methods that pack small and play big

Eugene Burger: scripting which is in complete opposite to what Simon Lovell taught me.

Teller: without a word or music his Meisner's dream is the most well though out and well performed routines I have ever seen. There is no presentation, its just magic.


Sol Stone: "If you work like a mouse and it plays like an elephant, its good but if you work like an elephant and you produce a mouse, it isn't"

Honorable Mentions:
David Roth
David Williamson
Bob Elliot
Mike Close
Derick Dingle
Doc Eason
Paul Cummins

My list;
Close Up (emphasis on cards): Earl Nelson, honorable mention: Jon Armstrong (he will be next)
Stage: Juan Tamariz
Close Up (emphasis on coins): Reed McClintock
Close Up (all around): Shoot Ogawa
Roger

Teller
Ricky Jay
John Thompson
Pat Page

Jeff McBride. I don't know if Johnny could hold an audience as long as Jeff. It's hard to say Teller since we never hear him talk. Teller appears to be the brains behind the two...Max wins for most knowledgeable, but does he work live? You see how Jeff works conventions, he knows everyone, and knows what they are working on too. My only thing with Jeff is, he's gotta watch the tube. He turned the damn box off when there was just 10 channels, there's 300 channels now! I believe he is the most traveled, second most knowledgeable, and the most entertaining magician alive.

Originally posted by weirdmagic:
Teller
Ricky Jay
John Thompson
Pat Page

I saw Pat Page demonstrating a Devil's Hankercheif at Blackpool this year, and this demonstration was better than some of the Gala Show for me. He struck me as a very knowledgable man.