Normally, when a magician such as Criss Angel is in the news, it's a positive event that keeps magic in the minds of the lay public. But some recent negative news concerning Angel is not beneficial.

The first news tidbit involves Angel's unfortunate use of a slur during his "Believe" show in Las Vegas. As a result, according some reports, he was continuously booed throughout the evening and even motivated Cirque to later apologize. The second involves a cat that is somehow tied to Tiger Woods and his multiple mistresses.

Magic is Easy?
What irritates me is a recent interview about his fifth season of MindFreak where Angel talks about magic and then touts his beginner's magic set. "There are actual mindfreaks [in the magic kit] that I've performed on television," says Angel in his interview.

Is Angel actually saying that anyone can perform a magic trick that he showcased on his television show by simply buying this beginner's magic kit? And if this is all it takes, then everything that Angel says about constant practice and studying magic becomes irrelevant.

You can't have it both ways. Either magic is a skill and art that takes lots of dedication, discipline and hard work, and the people who perform it have an innate talent to entertain with it- I would say this about David Copperfield, Lance Burton and more, and yes, Criss Angel. But going on record to sell out the art of magic to sell magic sets is plain wrong, and it only degrades our art in the public's mind.

More Reading:
Review: CRISS ANGEL Believe
Interview with Criss Angel

Picture C Cirque du Soleil

I recently wrote a story about a new installation, Diana Thater's "Between Science and Magic" at the Santa Museum of Modern Art. An LA Times art critic recently critiqued the installation in an article. The installation showcases magician Greg Wilson.

The LA Times article features a detailed and accurate description of the installation which is difficult to explain and is sure to raise a collective "huh?" There's also a picture of the work (the museum didn't allow me to take a picture even after I explained that I too was writing a story).

"What is clear is that there is very little that is alive in Thater's tedious rehashing of a style of filmmaking that ran its course in the early 1970s and is now fetishized by academics and film buffs and artists eager to distance themselves from the reality of entertainment," says the writer in the article.

I'm not entirely sure what all this means, but hey, I'm just a magician.

More Reading:
A Magic and Modern Art Mash-Up

Pictures C Diana Thater

Your intrepid magic blogger just sat through "When in Rome." The late screening of the romantic comedy that I attended had about five people in a lonely theater. All this so I could discuss the portrayal of magic in the film.

In the plot, Kristen Bell is pursued by five love-struck men, one of which is a magician played by Jon Heder ("Napoleon Dynamite"). Interestingly, Will Arnett, who portrayed an obnoxious (and very funny) magician ("illusionist") in the "Arrested Development" television series, plays an Italian artist who is also smitten.

The Heder character is supposed to be a street magician who pathetically emulates Criss Angel. While the look and mannerisms are clearly based on Angel, the feats are actually those of David Blaine.

While the Heder character levitates ala Angel and over-channels the mystique, he performs tricks such as pulling out his heart (Blaine performed this on the Carson Daly show some years ago). And there's exposure in the film of a Blaine effect from his first special. Lots of the feats depicted were impossible.

With the exception of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Princess Diaries," I usually abhor romantic comedies. But this one was at least pleasant enough to sit through. The "magic" in the film is simply a satire of Criss Angel. No harm, no foul. It's all in fun.

More Reading:
Film Review: The Prestige
Movie Review: "Is Anybody There?"
Movie Review: The Illusionist

Picture C Touchstone Pictures

My recent article where I responded to a religious leader's comparison of religion against stereotypical notions about magic received lots of comments from readers.

Thank you to all of you who took the time to share your thoughts and reactions. If you like, you can read all of the responses.

Here are a few excerpts:

"Religion offers hope and salvation while magic offers entertainment, which aren't mutually exclusive. The Rabbi seems to be comparing them as if today they were used for the same purpose and one should choose between one or the other."
-Jacob

"Silly Rabbi, tricks are for kids!"
-Derek Renfro

"The way I see it, the great prophets in the biblical literature are probably experts in the art of magic but they used it beyond entertainment... effectively."
-gr8dragon

"Clearly the Rabbi is no Magician and generally Magicians are not Prophets...Was Moses or Jesus a Magician? For a fact I do not know - I was not there. Those who would attack another's religious miracle as mere magic are being very rude or worse and the Rabbi attacking magicians as predictable boors is equally off base. The divisions between the two public services ought to be more properly divided along lines of pure faith and pure skill."
-John Dorsey

"We are not all augerers, soothsayers, astrologers, nor are we all scientists for want of a better opposite. Most of us tend to be skeptics about "Magic" in a long tradition from Houdini through James Randi, based on knowledge of the art...We entertain with wonder, not wonders. For the other side, just because we ain't seen it don't mean it ain't so."
-Paul Coff

"Throughout the ages magic and religion have intertwined. I am an anthropologist that specializes in North American native people....We as Euro-americans do not have a basic understanding of the role magic plays in the lives of non-single diety religions."
-Doc Kelly

"Good luck with finding religion, philosophy and wisdom... through your magic... possibly there is room to gain more of that through religion than orthodox religion sometimes !!!"
-Rohan

You can read the original story as well as the responses.

More Reading:
Gospel Magic
Andre Kole: Illusions and Miracles