David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Discuss the latest news and rumors in the magic world.
User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4770
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby erdnasephile » September 5th, 2015, 11:57 am

With respect to Mr. Pendragon (whom I indeed, very much respect):

Gabapentin (trade name: Neurotin), while not a narcotic, currently has a fairly limited list of USFDA approved indications (i.e. postherpetic neuralgia and seizures). This list does not include tremors. (In fact, in about 7% of people it actually causes tremors). It is commonly used, however, for chronic neuropathic (nerve) pain.

That said, the use of Gabapentin for essential tremors has been studied and the results of published studies have been mixed thus far. It's generally considered a second line (and off label) drug for this indication.

For patients with essential tremor, most docs would likely start with something like propranolol (which has about twice the response rate as gabapentin), barring any contraindications.

All of these drugs, of course, can have side-effects, some of which can be rather severe. I echo Mr. Pendragon's admonishment to discuss your particular situation with your doctor before taking. (I remain dismayed that after all these years, I still see people getting hurt taking their friends' medications.)

(Disclaimer: medical advice on the internet (including mine) should NEVER be followed without discussing with your personal physician first.)
Last edited by erdnasephile on September 5th, 2015, 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

performer
Posts: 3508
Joined: August 7th, 2015, 10:35 pm

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby performer » September 5th, 2015, 12:03 pm

I think in that case there is an easy way round the problem. On the stage of course it doesn't matter ad they can't see your hands anyway but for close up I would be inclined to say "if you see my hands shaking it doesn't mean that I am nervous although I will admit you are a fearsome crowd!

No.it's simply the medicine that I have to take!"

That will get the people on your side. They like this sort of humanity in a magician.

User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4770
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby erdnasephile » September 5th, 2015, 12:07 pm

Roberto Giobbi has a great article on this (and a good line to use when your hands shake) that was published in Genii (November, 2009).

I agree with what Mr. Lewis said about the audience liking the humanity of the magician. Denny Haney has said something similar: The audience likes to see you sweat because it shows you're working hard on their behalf.
Last edited by erdnasephile on September 7th, 2015, 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

performer
Posts: 3508
Joined: August 7th, 2015, 10:35 pm

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby performer » September 5th, 2015, 3:10 pm

It goes back to what I have already said about perfection. Perfection is an imperfection in itself. Audiences have an inbuilt defensiveness where magicians are concerned because a lot of people don't like to be fooled.

The more you can do to dilute this the better. And being human rather than perfect is a good way of doing this.

Oh. And it can mean less heckling too. If you think about it you will realise why.

MagicbyAlfred
Posts: 2388
Joined: June 7th, 2015, 12:48 pm
Favorite Magician: Bill Malone
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 5th, 2015, 4:29 pm

Yes I agree that a significant number of people don't like to be fooled. This can be greatly mitigated by choice of routines. That's why i like to do a lot of story routines, e.g. The Gambler versus Magician, The Twins, The Royal Family, and my own (unpublished) How I Beat the House in Vegas. These type of routines draw them in and capture interest, and entertain without psychologically invoking their defense mechanisms. I get requests for these routines again and again from regulars at my bar/restaurant gigs. This, as opposed to "take a card," or "OK, hold this card, now you have the Queen of Diamonds and I have the whatever..." the inherent premise of which from the get go is "I am going to fool you." Also, effects wherein they are the center of attention and emerge looking really good are winners, such as OOTW, or the Shuffle Lesson, by Chad Long (kills, BTW). In my 3 card Monte routine I tell the story of how I was taken as a 17 year old kid in New York, and do not invite or challenge them to guess. And in my chop cup routine, I let them be right several times in guessing whether the ball is under the cup or in my pocket, until BAM - a lime, a lemon, and then an orange suddenly emerge - even the staunchest magic hater is won over then. The multiplying rabbits, told as a love story, has proven to be another winner with virtually everyone (kid or adult)

PS re the chop cup. I used to just use two final loads (2 lemons), but I recently found it just as easy to get away with 3 with an exponentially greater impact and spectator reaction. And, using three different colors for the fruit (or balls if you choose, although IMHO fruit is stronger), as opposed to one monochromatic color or object, in essence makes three different effects, again heightening the effect and impact.

User avatar
NCMarsh
Posts: 1223
Joined: February 16th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Devant, Wonder, Richiardi, Benson, DeKolta, Teller, Harbin, Durham, Caveney, Ben, Hoy, Berglas, Marceau
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby NCMarsh » September 7th, 2015, 4:12 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:
P&T are very well prepped by their staff.



My understanding -- from a friend who performed on the show -- is that P&T do not know who will be performing until the name is announced.

User avatar
erdnasephile
Posts: 4770
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby erdnasephile » September 7th, 2015, 6:21 pm

That confirms the impression that I had.

One of the things I like is how thrilled they are when someone they recognize is announced as being next. For example, Penn's comment: "I can't wait to see this!", when David Roth invited them up. Also, Teller's "We're going to get fooled" when Kostya Kimlat came out (per Penn's interview).
Last edited by erdnasephile on September 7th, 2015, 7:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Michael Close
Posts: 491
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: The Great White North
Contact:

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby Michael Close » September 7th, 2015, 6:25 pm

The producers of Fool Us are adamant about the fact that P&T have no knowledge of whom is going to be on the show or what effects are going to be performed.

When we tape, the performers are brought into the theater and are sequestered in dressing rooms below the Rio stage before P&T enter the backstage area and their dressing rooms. The performers are not allowed out of the lower area until it is time for them to perform. If there is a break in the action and P&T are allowed back into their dressing rooms, they do not do so until all performers are in the lower area.

Until the performer's name is announced, P&T have no idea who is coming out to perform. Until that performer begins, they have no idea what they are about to see.

Johnny Thompson and I have been close friends with P&T for many years. If (and when) we speak, we discuss life, the universe, and everything except who will be on the show and what they will perform.

I hope that clears that up.

Jonathan Pendragon
Posts: 394
Joined: July 13th, 2010, 7:33 am

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby Jonathan Pendragon » September 8th, 2015, 8:25 am

I don't care what goes on behind the scenes, the shows great in so many ways no way more than just considering how bad the concept could have been in someone else's hands. If the show continues and my bosses don't object, I would love to go own to try and fool (or die, wait, fool or die! ohhh new concept for TV show, keep it to self) and not to reminisce, although they handle both well.


(Performer)
Perfection? You're kidding, right. Hey, I like the erudite just as much as the next guy. Here's a quote from memory so read "approximation", besides, it was originally said in Spanish: Salvador Dali, "You will never attain perfection, so stop worrying about it and just paint." ("Two coats, in one afternoon").



(man who loves...... card tricks)
I never suggested any use of the medicine I described WITHOUT a doctor's supervision. I am not going through it again and you certainly don't want to hear it again, but because of the whole OCD-stuntman-tiger-tinnitus-arrow-PTSD my familiarity with drugs has been profound, more than I ever wanted. There are still no drugs that work on children with OCD, I escaped the 60s without ever trying a psycho-active and the 70s without ever using cocaine. I didn't drink until I was in my 40s and I have never smoked... cigarettes, I prefer a cigar.

You learn to survive through research and by always reading the fine print. A neurosurgeon wrote a ticket for me to take a new drug that would help me sleep. It may have nearly killed me. The substance became part of one of the biggest class-action lawsuits in drug history. I wasn't part of that, I had already stopped taking the drug because of a 30 pound weight gain and motor-skill problems; I would fall because my legs would just collapse. I had been off the medicine for several months when I fell on the trash bin holding the broken arrow that punctured my heart. I always wonder if that fall was a residual effect from the drug. I know all too well what "off labeling" is.

Viagra was designed to be a blood pressure medicine. It happens during clinical tests. Neurontin was developed to help nerve death and my type of tinnitus is the result of nerve death. I never "hear" silence, I have to imagine it. When you learn to hold the noise away from your conscious mind, you learn to live with it and at certain times go without medication. That's how I became aware of the effect on my hands. I am relating a first person experience, I am not a doctor, my understanding of medication has always been from the point of view of a patient. I am merely suggesting that if anyone here, 60 and above, has problems with shaky hands during a performance, talk to your DOCTOR, see what the pros think and always read the fine print.

observer
Posts: 342
Joined: August 31st, 2014, 5:32 am
Favorite Magician: Harry Kellar - Charlie Miller - Paul Rosini - Jay Marshall
Location: Chicago

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby observer » September 8th, 2015, 11:48 am

Michael Close wrote:The producers of Fool Us are adamant about the fact that P&T have no knowledge of whom is going to be on the show or what effects are going to be performed.

When we tape, the performers are brought into the theater and are sequestered in dressing rooms below the Rio stage before P&T enter the backstage area and their dressing rooms. The performers are not allowed out of the lower area until it is time for them to perform. If there is a break in the action and P&T are allowed back into their dressing rooms, they do not do so until all performers are in the lower area.



Do the performers get any rehearsal time? (On the actual stage on which they will perform?)

Michael Close
Posts: 491
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: The Great White North
Contact:

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby Michael Close » September 8th, 2015, 2:22 pm

Each performer had a complete, camera-rehearsal run-through on stage. This happened prior to the taping of each "show." (As I mentioned elsewhere, the acts that were taped in any given show was based on the availability of the performers. Individual segments were then "cut and pasted" to make a forty-two-minute show with a variety of magic.) The camera rehearsals were about half-an-hour long (some ran a little longer). This ensured that the props department had the correct gear on stage, that the director got a feel for the shots, and that the performer got comfortable with the set-up.

observer
Posts: 342
Joined: August 31st, 2014, 5:32 am
Favorite Magician: Harry Kellar - Charlie Miller - Paul Rosini - Jay Marshall
Location: Chicago

Re: David Roth on this week's Penn and Teller show

Postby observer » September 8th, 2015, 2:49 pm

Thank you!


Return to “Buzz”