Norm Nielsen's floating violin ripped-off

[David Nethery]

This is really disappointing to see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... eenQ#t=178

Starts around the 2:58 mark.

Sad thing is the guy has some good performing chops. He can do better than to rip-off Norm Nielsen. Changing it from a violin to a ukulele doesn't make it ok.

[Richard Kaufman]

Lupe Nielsen wrote this on Facebook in response:

"Mr. Simard contacted Norm about a year ago to ask for permission. In reality Norm was indifferent about this because there is nothing one can do about it, as people will do what they want. He was not comfortable with it, but it is not a floating violin, it is a ukelele instead. The video shows the final result. You can see it at the 3 minute point.
Neither Norm or I will make any comments. I'll let his work speak for itself."

[Bill Marquardt]

What I see in the video is a Zombie routine with a ukulele. Maybe Al Schneider should be credited for some of the moves. Silver ball, zombie head, violin, ukulele - what's the difference?

As far as this performance, I could "see" the ditching of the gimmick, but I doubt the audience would have seen it.

[Richard Kaufman]

The idea of putting a stringed instrument on a Zombie gimmick is Norm Nielsen's trademark. It can only be called a poor copy done without permission.

[David Nethery]

Lupe Nielsen wrote this on Facebook in response:

"Mr. Simard contacted Norm about a year ago to ask for permission. In reality Norm was indifferent about this because there is nothing one can do about it, as people will do what they want. He was not comfortable with it, but it is not a floating violin, it is a ukelele instead. The video shows the final result. You can see it at the 3 minute point.

Neither Norm or I will make any comments. I'll let his work speak for itself."

Ok, fair enough. Thanks for clarifying that for me. I didn't know that Mr. Simard actually took the step of formally asking permission from Norm Nielsen, so I withdraw my comment that this is a "rip-off" of Norm Nielsen, though I note that Norm's permission was given "indifferently" ... by which I take it to mean he didn't definitely say "NO, please don't do that" , but probably didn't give an enthusiastic "YES , go ahead, you have my blessing" . I suppose because he is not performing it anymore he took the pragmatic point of view that there's nothing he could do about it anyway, so why create a fuss. His (Nielsen's) legacy is intact via filmed performances and contemporary reviews of his act. As Lupe said , the work speaks for itself (in both cases, Mr. Nielsen's work and Mr. Simard's).

[observer]

Lupe Nielsen wrote this on Facebook in response:

"Mr. Simard contacted Norm about a year ago to ask for permission. In reality Norm was indifferent about this because there is nothing one can do about it, as people will do what they want. "

Did Mr Nielsen give permission? That's a simple yes or no question.

It's just that, the guy contacted Mr Nielsen and asked permission to do a variation on Mr Nielsen's effect. That's the right thing to do. Doing the right thing should be encouraged.

If Mr Nielsen's response really was "I don't care, there's nothing I can do about it if you do", that seems if anything to discourage people from asking permission - as if many performers needed to be discouraged from doing that ...