Entertainment Weekly writer Brittany Frederick asks why with so much magic on television recently, we are not feeling magical?
She points to the recent spate of shows about our craft such as Criss Angel BeLIEve; Syfy’s Wizard Wars, Close Up Kings, and Troy: Street Magic; The CW’s resurrection of Masters of Illusion and importing of Penn & Teller: Fool Us. She likes the craft but apparently not the way it is being translated to television sets. It is tough to disagree with her take.
She points out that Masters of Illusion has been squished from an hour-long show to 30 minutes (including commercials). The net effect is that “Dean Cain has to go through acts so quickly that you barely have time to let the tricks sink in.”
Ms. Frederick bemoans – again with our wholehearted agreement – the move from logistics of putting on a magic show to the effect in isolation.
“What was so fantastic about Criss Angel BeLIEve when Spike unveiled it in October 2013 was that it was almost about everything but the performance. We got to know Angel a lot better and understand what it was like for him to do these challenging tricks every day. We learned about the history involved with many of his demonstrations. We met his team, and were able to listen in on their discussions about how to make magic happen, whether it was building a prop or finding the perfect location. We saw when things didn’t go according to plan and how they dealt with those situations. These are elements of magic that most TV audiences probably haven’t even thought about.”
Audiences are now taken from appreciating the history of a particular effect and the very real logistical challenges of presenting the trick, to merely asking whether an effect is performed with camera tricks or dodgy editing.
Check out her full article and well-considered opinions here.
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