DC - King of Magic

[CraigMitchell]

SAM have announced that Copperfield is now "King of Magic" - the name of their new award.

http://art.broadwayworld.com/article/Da ... c-20110913

[Brad Henderson]

While dc is certainly deserving of our highest accolades, the title sounds like something a kindergarten class wouldve come up with - or worse, the ims.

[Anthony Vinson]

Mr. C has certainly earned our respect, praise and support many times over. Congratulations to him! But the article states that he is being named Magician of the Century, however it doesn't say which. And according to this http://www.vegasdeluxe.com/blogs/luxe-l ... n-century/ the same (or a similar) award was presented to Criss Angel last year. I'm so confused!

[M.Lee]

CA last yr..You must be Joking !!!!! not Even in the same arena , and or Kindergarten Class for that matter.

Class will always win over lack there of , Lts see.. F. Astaire & G.Kelly VS O.Osborn & Satan .hmm tough choice - NOT !

DC Show at the MGM Night IS SELLING OUT Night after night, Simply because he is a Living Legend !

Again Congrats Dave !

ML

[Chris Aguilar]

You'd think they could pick a more flattering photo.

This looks like a mug shot.

[Richard Kaufman]

I think that's an old photo.

[Jim Maloney]

I think that's an old photo.

Looks like it's around the Tornado of Fire time frame, I think.

-Jim

[Chris Aguilar]

It's sort of depressing to watch those great early DC specials, (where the obvious energy and love for the whole thing was there) and then see him live today, where (going by online reviews and a show I saw a few years back) he sometimes just phones it in.

I realize that part of it can probably be pegged to age, but I think he's burned himself out with his horrendously busy schedule over the years.

I remember seeing Blackstone when he was probably the same age DC is now (or a bit older) and his persona, his charisma, his ability to connect with the crowd seemed very much intact. Something I cannot say for the DC when I saw his show a few years back. Perhaps he (Blackstone) was able to keep that by not killing himself by grinding out so many shows year after year as DC has done. I thought it just might have been one off night or perhaps just me, but looking at Yelp and other online reviews of his current show, it seems quite a few people feel the same way.

Which is a true shame, because I can remember how exciting it was to watch those DC TV specials back in the day. And that excitement was fed by how much I could see it was shared by DC.

Count me a fan of that DC, not the one who currently sleepwalks through a lot of his shows.

[SteveP]

Harry was the same offstage as he was onstage. Even privately there wasn't a big shift in his personality. He amplified it a bit onstage, but he was basically the same guy.

David onstage isn't the same person offstage and I think that makes a difference.

I also think that there is also a different attitude each has/had with their show. Harry's only concern was that the Blackstone classics went off without a problem - The hanky had to dance, the lightbulb had to float and no sound problems with the pickpocket act. Other than that, as long as the audience was entertained, he didn't care.

I never completely understood David. Phoning it in isn't a recent occurrence. He was doing it back in the 80's as well and I never knew why. Hey, Copperfield phoning it in is better than 75% of some giving it all they got, but still this guy is the best and you expect to see the best he has - especially at those prices!

And maybe it's old show biz vs. new show biz. Harry was raised in his father's show and I think it was just second nature to him. I don't know. If he was bored with everything, he never showed it.

[Dal Sanders]

If you haven't seen DC lately then you should. Recently his shows have been great and he is fully engaged. It's like the greatest magician of all time is back.

[John Signa]

Having seen DC on a fairly regular basis, I would agree that in the past DC didn't always seem to be "there" on stage, especially starting when his father passed away. However, I had the opportunity to see him twice this year and found that he seemed to have a renewed energy while performing. He was engaged and interacting with the audience. New routines are being added (one has been added so far this year, more are in development/testing).

[Chris Aguilar]

For the high ticket price DC commands in Vegas these days, I doubt I'd want to take the chance that he *might* not be phoning it in on that particular day. Fairly recent online yelp (and other) reviews make it seem like this might still be a concern.

[Richard Kaufman]

Well, what would you rather pay for instead of Copperfield for a real magic show?

Criss Angel?
Steve Wyrick?
Kirby Van Birch?
Rick Thomas?

[Chris Aguilar]

Do all of those guys charge the same ticket premium price Richard?

If so, I'd personally skip all of them, DC included.

Amazing illusions only take one so far if the guy presenting them looks and acts like he doesn't even want to be there.

Surprisingly (to me at least) my wife caught Wyrick's show a few years ago (I've never seen it) and when I asked her to compare, she actually preferred it to Copperfield's show.

Go figure.

[Dustin Stinett]

While it's been a while since I've seen him, Rick Thomas puts on a very good show.

[Richard Stokes]

These silly sycophantic awards devalue the art of magic.

'Barnum delusions' of this calibre once promoted Michael Jackson as the' Artist of the Century'.
Jacko went further and even accidentally awarded himself 'Artist of the Millennium.'
Check out this ludicrous award ceremony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfU3rQ9dNpw
Jack Black retaliated by accepting the 'super-genius of the universe' award.

Many years ago Monty Python brilliantly captured the phoney nature of these ceremonies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWP2XAdw-bE

Eric Idle parodied Richard Attenborough's over-emotional, over-enunciated delivery. Later (8 mts into the clip) he becomes deeply moved by the arrival of David Niven's fridge!
Vinny Grosso, take note.