Blackpool / FISM Controversy?

[Magic Newswire]

So... I have received several emails from people with regards to Blackpool organizers publicly ridiculing FISM judges, in front of the audience, for "disqualifying too many acts" during the competition. If this happened, and I was obviously not there to personally verify that it did, why is no one talking about it. I know that many of you that will read this were there. What happened and why, if this is the case, is no one talking about it?

[pduffie]

There are some comments here (3rd from last post) about this:

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic34287-0-asc-165.php

[Magic Newswire]

Interesting. I've heard that the judges were instructed to be serious in their judging to FISM standards and to buzz off acts that weren't worthy of continuing. Obviously, that is an awkward position to be in. We all want to be nice to people, but being honest apparently doesn't win any popularity contests.

[Richard Kaufman]

I heard similar things, along the lines of "Oh, they've worked so hard, that it's unfair to red light them." Typical [censored]. The whole point of the satellite FISM conventions is to weed out the crap acts so they don't end up at the main FISM convention and embarrass the hell out of everyone like they used to.

What? You thought that all this FISM stuff was going to go smoothly with Blackpool? I've had the full cooperation of the last two FISMs in Sweden and China in advance, with articles and interviews. Never a problem. For FISM next year? Nothing--no information provided, no articles, no interviews. ZIP.

The scuttlebutt I heard at Blackpool is that MANY people from the UK are not going to FISM next year. They're wondering why they should pay 500 Euros to register for a convention that looks pretty much like the Blackpool convention did this year, with contests most of the day every day, and that cost less than 100 pounds for registration.

Also, business in the dealer room was way down this year for many dealers because the conventioneers were off watching the FISM Europe contests most of the day! I walked the dealer room and saw empty aisles--have never seen that before. Some dealers said sales were good, but many more seemed to be doing less business.

[Paul Gordon]

I did very well in the dealer hall, but then I work DARNED hard for it! Some (many) dealers sit on their arses and wonder as to why it isn't happening for them. Go figure!

Generally speaking, though, I think the recession has cooled things down in respect magicians purchasing stuff... And petrol/gas is about 6 ($10) a gallon! And rising...

Just wondering, Richard, where you'll use the footage you took. Is it on the forum?

Cheers,
Paul Gordon (alias, Dr. Syn.)

[Magic Newswire]

I know that Richard is planning on having much more video in the Digital version of Genii, so assume that we will see the best bits there.

[Richard Kaufman]

The video will appear in the April or May digital version of Genii.

[Jolly Roger]

Richard is right about the dealers at Blackpool. Many I spoke to were way down on sales. It was not just the FISM competitors, but some blamed it on bargains being snatched up at the Thursday auction, and people spending all their money there. JR

[erdnasephile]

Were the competitors informed prior to the competition they could be "gonged"? If everyone knew the ground rules, then that's fair to them as competitors, although I feel bad for them as human beings. [Back in the day, the judges did the same thing to the kid in front of me at the Magic Castle Junior auditions (without warning).]

As far as the public verbal abuse directed at the judges, that's completely unreasonable. They were only doing as instructed, and if this keeps up, the supply of qualified judges for FISM is going to get even smaller.

[thecardman]

I don't know if anyone has stated this elsewhere on the forum but there is a part of the rules that covers acts being "gonged" off. Section 7, paragraph (e) reads as follows:-

"Judges will each have access to a switch to activate the red lamp on the performing platform. If, after the first three minutes of an act, a Judge is of the opinion that the performance is below the FISM level, he can press his button. When at least 70% of the number of Judges have pressed their button, the red lamp shall be activated to start flashing, meaning the contestant is disqualified. In the stage competition the curtain shall be closed within 20 seconds after the red lamp started flashing."

You can find it on the Contest Rules page of the FISM website.

Best wishes

Peter
:)

[Jim Roberts]

Sounds like people either did not read the rules, or read them and said, "Naaa, they would never do that". Having not been to Blackpool, perhaps some could tell me if this is a new aspect to the competitions at that gathering.

[Terry]

Sounds like they were expecting the local magic club mentality when it came to judging?

[Joe Pecore]

I believe it was new and more then their normal Blackpool competition, but rather part of the FISM European Championship (to gain entry to FISM).

Will be interesting to see if same happens at SAM convention in Pittsburgh in July as they will be hosting the FISM North American Championship.

[Q. Kumber]

I'd suggest that at future FISM competitions that the judging rules are briefly announced to the audience before each session. That way the audiences will better understand why acts are suddenly disqualified.

For the stage competitions I think the judges should be spread around the theatre, some at the sides and some at the back, giving a wider perspective. Can stage acts be fully appreciated from the front row? A manipulator's steal may be invisible from the front but blatantly obvious from someone seated at the sides of the auditorium.

Perhaps the Saturday night audience were somewhat envious of the power wielded by the FISM judges and when the MC goaded them enough with remarks like, "Some of you are baiters and some are masters but I will win", they, not having buttons to press, resorted to the slow handclap. The audience probably had the phrase "White Trash" come to mind.

The MC's constant referring to his years in the business and how good he was reminds me of a heckle told be Don Ward, founder of London's Comedy Store:

[color:#6633FF]Eighteen years ago, Eric Douglas, Kirk Douglas's son, was a bit upset at the audience reaction to his routine and shouted back: "You can't do this to me - I'm Kirk Douglas's son!" Some wag in the audience stood up and shouted out: "No, I'm Kirk Douglas's son," swiftly followed by the rest of the audience. He died on his arse. He'd bombarded Don with phone calls to say he was coming over and not to mention the fact that he was Kirk's son.[/color]

You can read more of Don Ward's favourite heckles at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/ ... re-heckles

[Richard Kaufman]

Quentin, your idea of an annoucement is a good one. Of course at a normal FISM convention people are aware of this, but the experience of these FISM satellite conventions is a new one.

[CraigMitchell]

Call me brutual but the 'red lighting' of an act at FISM is often the most exciting part of the whole convention ;-)

It's the same reason people love watching Simon Cowell ...

[erdnasephile]

I'm not really into schadenfreude when it comes to magic performances, but if the "red light" procedures give us a more credible FISM contest, then so be it.

FWIW, I haven't been to a ton of national conventions, but at every one I've been at, I have been dismayed to see so many poor to average contestants.

Personally, I wouldn't think about competing unless I had act consisting soley of my own material (which to me is more than just finding household items that you can do cups and balls with) or failing that, top of the line skill at the classics.

Perhaps one should be required to win a regional contest before being allowed to compete at the nationals (much like athletic qualifying events). We'd have fewer contestants, but the bar would probably be raised.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Is there enough time at FISM to permit a Gong Show type elimination round? That way folks who enjoy that sort of thing can.

[CraigMitchell]

The continental FISM events are intended to do just that - weed out the bad acts before they reach FISM ... which in a way is quite a shame ... as often the really awful acts are the most memorable ... who can ever forget nappy boy's manipulation act or the singing nightingale with the bauble attached to the top of her head - whilst she publicly thanked her mentor - Jeff McBride ;-)

[Q. Kumber]

At Blackpool, and I'm assuming with FISM, videoing is not permitted and it is requested that mobile phones are switched off. This does not seem to have stopped hundreds of people photographing and videoing acts. The biggest complaint I heard was about the bright lights from mobile phones being used in the darkened auditoriun. Very distracting for those sitting nearby.

Not sure how to stop it but it is an issue that needs to be addressed for all magic conventions.

[Richard Kaufman]

Before it was a problem in the West, it was a real problem in Asia. In any auditorium in China you would see hundreds of video cameras filming during any stage show or contest (this is before cell phones could film). The convention organizers had guys going up and down the aisles with flashlights trying to get people to stop, but as soon as the "enforcer" walked away, the camera would come right back out.

[Tim Ellis]

I was just in Manila and now, in all the cinemas, there's a big anti-piracy push. They advertise that they search people going in to the cinemas for recording devices and, anyone caught filming inside, will be subject to prosecution.

"Based on the Anti-Camcording Law, the use, possession, and control of audiovisual recording gadgets in cinemas are prohibited and penalized as it is a major source of film piracy. The penalty are fines ranging from P50,000 to P750,000 and imprisonment ranging from six months to six years."

[Matthew Field]

As Quentin said, the lights from cell phones at the Blackpool evening shows was most annoying. People tweeting seems to be the next step down from people talking in movie theaters as though they were watching TV in their living rooms.

Steve Biddle told me he saw a West End (London) show in which a couple in thbe audience brought out a Chinese meal and started munching away, until one of the actors broke character to tell them to cut it out.

Matt Field

[Jonathan Townsend]

First and foremost - live entertainment is just that - a realtime experience for the audience. That larger segments of our population are interested in distracting themselves during the show and then looking at images after the fact speaks to other issues.

Addressing the matter technologically has been pretty simple for a few years now - just use the optic glasses - and for the quick fix - disable the LED (and LCD display ) on the recorder during recording.

As of a few years after the TV show 'Search' it's been a pretty moot point. If you want someone to give up their cell phone when they see your show you may also need to find a more perceptive therapist.