Copperfield on Today show

[magicman1953]

Heard that Copperfield is doing magic on the Today show on monday's this month wish I was home to watch.

[Dustin Stinett]

We already have a post on that earlier:

http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubb ... Post282784

[Richard Kaufman]

I think there's supposed to be another Copperfield segment this coming Monday morning, no?

[Doug Thornton]

It's Mondays in March, so three more.

[Richard Kaufman]

David's aborted first appearance on the Today Show.

[Tom Moore]

Firstly, magic on tv / 99% of David's work = great amazing and wonderful; it goes without saying.

I'm mildly confused that in all his recent appearances in the media he keeps using the same media pack (of 15-20 year old performances) and routines that have been shown (with the same gags) ad-infinitum. I fully appreciate that at the other end of the spectrum the magicians quest to constantly be doing something totally new is a loosing game but it strikes me as a somewhat contradictory PR message that whilst his live shows have always included "new" and change his promo effort says "i'm stuck in the mid 90's". I've got a VHS of a special he did for the uk in the 90's which includes every single piece of material he's done as promo stuff in the last year or so; virtually word for word.

Perhaps there is a grand plan behind it all but i can't work it out?

[Richard Kaufman]

Since he hasn't made but one TV show in the last decade, all of his footage is from older shows. I think it's that simple.

[Tom Moore]

I'm not sure it's that simple - his "showreel" is footage of stuff from 6 or 7 specials ago not simply material from his last special. Likewise he's doing AirCoppers which is 20 years old and has been "the trick" he does in person on the last few tv appearances he's done. With a warehouse stacked full of stuff and the time, resources and money to shoot just about every prop he has professionally in-house it just seems odd that he's choosing to use really old footage and the same "in person" trick with word-for-word the same patter to promote a show that's actually full of much newer and fresher material.

[Richard Kaufman]

Tom, either I phrased my post ambiguously, or you've misinterpreted it. I know full well that the promo reel contains stuff from many different specials.

There is no one in the world who is performing more magic shows, is more famous, and makes more money doing it than David Copperfield. He obviously knows what he's doing.

[Tom Moore]

Oh i'm not condemning, i'm just struggling to understand why as what he's doing is contrary to all received wisdom about promotion and marketing; what he's "selling" in these appearances is something that looks 20 years out of date and overly familiar/over-exposed and yet his live shows have always been very fresh, very contemporary and regularly shaken up precisely so that he isn't doing the same old show and so that he stays relevant.

It's akin to Madonna doing tv appearances and only showing video's of "Vogue" and wearing the cone-bra costume to promote her current concert tour which i'm quite sure bares no relation (aesthetically or musically) to that costume or song and contains lots of other more contemporary material.

Since he has the budget and resources to do almost anything he wants as promotion i guess i'm asking "Can anyone suggest why he's doing it this way?" because it is so contrary to the normal practice?

(i was the annoying "why" kid at school, can you tell)

[Richard Kaufman]

The final Copperfield "Magic Monday" took place yesterday and you can view the three contestants perform on The Today Show here:
http://www.today.com/video/today/51317254#51317254
And see who won the prize!

[Doug Thornton]

The young and creative Jeff Prace did not get asked to tell the audience about himself like the other two. Unfortunate. But congratulations for being there, Jeff! And best wishes to the other two contestants. Are you on the Genii Forum?

[Richard Kaufman]

It's been a few days since watching the clip, but my recollection about what made the female contestant's entry different than the other two was that she did a routine involving continuous sleight of hand. The two guys looked like they were just performing marketed tricks.

[Jeff.Prace]

Hey Doug, thanks for the comments! Yes, it was odd that they didn't ask me any questions. The producers told me that if no questions were asked to just start performing immediately. The other two magicians were great. Kayla was very brave to do sleight-of-hand on live TV, and Ben's use of the Today Show photo was extremely fitting. Richard, the trick I performed was created by me and marketed in 2009. No matter, it was a great experience!

[Richard Kaufman]

Jeff, David did single you out as a creator, which was nice.

I think they were short on time.

It's interesting that the routine the girl did seemed designed solely for work behind a bar because of the way her right hand kept swinging downward and behind her. You would never see that if she's behind the bar. It took guts (and a cooperative cameraman) to do that with nothing in front of you.

But good for you for trying. My hands would have been shaking like a pile of leaves on a windy day.

[Jeff.Prace]

Yes, I was very humbled that David recognized that I created the trick.

Kayla's routine definitely took guts, and it certainly paid off. Watching the video, it all looked quite good. We were given minimal time to talk with the camera men, so I would assume nothing was 100% as we would have liked it. In the end, though, I think it was a fun segment.

If you watch my portion when the camera is zoomed in on my hands, you can see me shaking... I was nervous as heck! The producers gave me 40 seconds or less to complete my set, so I was a tad rushed to stay in the time frame. I'm just glad I decided to do something I am so familiar with.

(And just for fun, check out my earphone trick in the April issue of Genii! )