Dave Letterman's Top 10 Magician Pet Peeves

[Chris Bailey]

Dave Letterman
Top Ten Magician Pet Peeves


10. Stores who don't accept change pulled from people's ears

9. You've got a cold and all your handkerchiefs keep turning into doves

8. When plumber says, "You're the magician, you unclog it"

7. Due to screw up at magic shop you pull a rabbi out of your hat

6. It's lonely on the road and most nights you end up "palming it"

5. Two words: cape rash

4. You mumble, "Abracadabra" in your sleep -- when you wake up your furniture is gone

3. Accidentally saw one woman in half and you're suspended

2. When you do your mind-reading trick, all you seem to get is "Magicians suck"

1. Your girlfriend leaves you for a magician with a bigger wand

[Carl Mercurio]

That's old right? I seem to remember him doing that a while ago, or maybe he never did it and somebody just made it up. It's funny. Anyway, Letterman never seemed to me to be much of a fan of magic. The only people he treats with less respect are people doing cooking demonstrations....

[Chris Bailey]

I'm not sure. A friend of mine sent it to me. I've heard stories of the way he's treated magicians in the past. Pretty horrific.

[Guest]

It has been on TV. We get Letterman on TV over here in the UK a day later than the US transmission. I think it was on either very early in the year, or maybe late last year.

Letterman, Leno etc never seem to have magicians on anymore (apart from when Blaine had a new special). Letterman used to have a tradition of having a magician on the new years eve show, but that fade away.

I think I recall seeing a video clip of David Roth doing shadow coins on Letterman, but looking at Letterman's hairline, it appeared to be a very old clip.

[John Smetana]

The Roth appearance on Letterman isn't really that old..no more than a year or so, maybe less.I think David handled Letterman perfectly. He knew in advance the type of "spectator" Letterman would be and was ready for everything. Letterman interrupted, grabbed the coins and acted just like a typical(pain in the a--) spectator and Roth dealt with it all...a real pro.I can't name a close up guy who could do better under those circumstances.

Best thoughts,
John Smetana

[Dustin Stinett]

Originally posted by John Smetana:
The Roth appearance on Letterman isn't really that old..no more than a year or so, maybe less.

No, actually it was in late 1998. The reason I know this is because I talked with David Roth about that Letterman appearance at a workshop Roth held here. It was during a run of "Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants" which opened December 29, 1998 at the Barclay Theater in Irvine, California. Roth held the workshop on his day off.

Dustin

[John Smetana]

Thanks for the jog to this old memory unit Dustin. Age is like a roll of toilet paper..the older you get the faster it goes..I could have sworn this appearance was more recent. I appreciate the correction..Thanks and as always,

Best thoughts,
John Smetana

[MaxNY]

David told me that they tried to get him to sit at the desk, and that he insisted "no", that he was booked with the producer's knowing he was to do this on his own table, standing-up. To the Letterman people, they just saw it as...why does David have to "meet" the magician on his own ground.

[Richard Kaufman]

I fondly remember all the magicians Johnny Carson used to have on The Tonight Show. I miss Johnny's show for that and many other reasons. Leno and Letterman are a pair of self-involved jackasses and their shows have zero interest to me. Neither one could ask a coherent question and then listen to the answer and ask an intelligent follow-up question if their lives depended on it.

[Dennis]

Richard...

...AMEN!!!

[mike cookman]

Johnny Carson treated his guests with respect. When Paul Gertner appeared on The Tonight Show he ended with his great routine "That's Ridiculous," and the audience went wild. That would never happen on Letterman's show. Letterman would just make fun of him the entire time, and the audience would play along, believing this type of behavior to be "cool." I dont like talk shows these days.

[Rick Schulz]

Makes me miss Jack Parr and Dick Cavette - they were gentlemen in every sense of the word.

[Carl Mercurio]

Carson, a magician himself, loved to showcase other magicians. If I'm not mistaken, he allowed Lance Burton to do his entire 12-minute act on The Tonight Show. And I agree, you never saw Carson humiliate a guest.

[Guest]

Originally posted by Carl Mercurio:
Carson, a magician himself, loved to showcase other magicians. If I'm not mistaken, he allowed Lance Burton to do his entire 12-minute act on The Tonight Show. And I agree, you never saw Carson humiliate a guest.

No kidding! Carson actually did the Vernon Symphony of the Rings one night - and he was REALLY good!

Carson and Ed Sullivan probably hold the record in the US for the most magicians on the air on a variety show. Sullivan had EVERYBODY who was ANYBODY with only a few notable exceptions, such as Ken Brooke.

Carson's magic spots were legendary, with some of the real greats as well.

Cavett did a Thanksgiving special where he featured a number of great close up guys, including Slydini and Vernon many years ago. Vernon killed and Slydini literally disintegrated the audience.

If anyone has a copy of that show, I would approciate an email so we can work out something for a copy.

That show was one of the finest examples of magic on TV. And Cavett is also a magician and used to write for the Tonight Show.

Anyone care to imagine the writer's conferences with Carson on that?

Lee Darrow, C.Ht.
http://www.leedarrow.com

[Guest]

Leno is an idiot and Letterman is a moron. Did I get that in the right order? Or am I a cretin for forgetting which one is dumber?

What I'd love to see someone do, if possible, is compile a series of videos of magic on The Tonight Show, Cavett, and Sullivan. I'd buy it in a heartbeat, but maybe the royalty cost would be too much. Oh well.

Best,

Geoff

[David Nethery]

I laughed at the Letterman List , but.........

this thread also made me realize how much I miss Johnny Carson (and Dick Cavett , and Ed Sullivan) .

You can send comments to Carson on his website:

http://www.johnnycarson.com/carson/dear ... guestbook/

Drop Johnny a line and say "thanks for the memories" .


(hey, that's Bob Hope's line, and BTW, Happy Belated Birthday, Bob . 100 years ! )

Waxing Nostalgic,

D.T. Nethery

[Robert McDaniel]

How about Tom Snyder and the Tomorrow Show? He loved magicians, but was always talking when the magicians were trying to perform. He wouldn't shut up!

I remember a Tomorrow Show with Dai Vernon, Derek Dingle, and Doug Henning. If memory serves, Vernon performed Card to Wallet, Dingle performed Roll Over Aces, and Henning did "the first trick he ever learned" - a signed coin to matchbox. There were other tricks, too.

And, in the next night's show, I remember Tom Snyder talking about his staff slowing down the tape after the show to try and discover the secret to the Card to Wallet without success. I would give anything to have a video or DVD of the magic perfomances on the Tomorrow Show and Dick Cavett. (I also remember a show with Darwin Ortiz and Peter Samuelson on the Dick Cavett Show.)

Robert McDaniel

[Frank Tougas]

Mike Douglas also featured magicians on his afternoon talk format. In fact didn't he introduce the television viewing world to Penn & Teller?

Letterman and Leno are to ego driven to let magicians just do their thing. Letterman especially has to make them all look like a horses A**. Remember the Greek magician, who was a local performer in the New York area. Kaymar later ammended by Letterman to Kaymar the discount magician.

The mangled English due to his Greek accent, rushing him and the fact that Letterman probably found the worst performing magician he could, all added to how bad magic was made to look on his show.

I also remember a show with a Mark someone, who did exposure ala masked magician w/o the mask on the old Letterman show. They did a sawing in half where the standard illusion base was shown.

I wonder if the animosity came from the days of working the comedy clubs where a lot of magicians also worked. They hate "prop comics".