What Makes a Great Magician?

What type of training should one choose to become a successful magician? In my recent interview at the My Cool Job Blog, I stated that the most important aspect of being a successful magician was to be a "people person." And I think that this is mostly true for the type of magic that I do. But when it comes to entertaining with magic, is there an advantage to having been trained in a particular art, whether it’s theater, comedy/stand-up, dance or more?

VH1's ongoing Celebracadabra reality show features seven TV and film stars who are competing for the title of "Best Celebrity Magician." Each week, there's a given magic genre and the contestants attempt to learn and perform tricks. One is eliminated each week and thus far, it's been interesting to view the different personalities and see what they bring from their various backgrounds.

Who’s Got the Magic?
Just two weeks in, we've seen the contestants perform "David Blaine" style street magic (click here to read our review). (No surprise that "street" magic would be first as it's what sponsor Ellusionist.com promotes and sells on it's site.) In the second week, the competitors performed kids magic with a serious impediment, they had to wear costumes (click here to read our review).

Despite the short time that we’ve gotten to know the celebrities (admittedly, I had never heard of most of them before), I think I've seen enough to pick the ones who are natural magicians. Keep in mind that I'm not predicting who's going to win because of all of the variables that come with a reality show, but I know who I would pick to stand-up in front of a crowd and perform magic, given adequate time to prepare.

The Contestants
I didn't see enough of singer Carnie Wilson, who was eliminated after the first week, to make a call on her magic abilities. Comedian ANT, who was eliminated after week two, clearly had the stage persona and comedy skills to be a successful magician, but without a respect for our art, he was doomed. His snide and cynical approach to magic was apparent in his interviews and comments toward Jeff McBride. And his magic coach, Asi Wind, stated that ANT was unwilling to practice.

C. Thomas Howell is an actor, however, he was bogged down in his street performance struggling with the floating bill. In his second week while entertaining children, he allowed himself to fall into that common trap of kid performers, grossly overacting.

I wouldn’t have picked Howell as the winner of the second round as I think there were others who were better. I don’t know how much experience Howell has in front of live crowds, but thus far, we haven't seen his acting skills help him in this competition.

Dancer Kimberly Wyatt has been rather stilted thus far, probably because she's been nervous about the magic. But if Wyatt stays in this competition and performs in the final illusion show, her dance and choreography training will give her an incredible advantage.

The Variety Players
The rest of the pack is harder to categorize. Hal Sparks is both a musician and actor; Chris Reid has sung and acted and Lisa Ann Walter has performed stand-up comedy and acted. And thus far, these three have shown the strongest potential as magicians.

While he won the first week, I've found Sparks to be rather subdued. On the other hand, I have found Reid and Walter to have the qualities most found in successful magicians. They’re both able to hold the attention of a crowd, even under tough conditions; they relate well to people and can improvise and mix it up as conditions call for it. Reid and Walter, thus far, are the strongest magic material and I attribute it to their experience in front of live crowds.

Tough Judges
It's probably a good thing that the celebrities don't understand the stature of Jeff McBride, Franz Harary and Max Maven in the magic world. Otherwise, the contestants would know that for magicians, it's akin to being an actor and judged by Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep or being a comedian and judged by Robin Williams and Ellen DeGeneres. (I know I would be nervous with McBride and Maven scrutinizing and analyzing my every move.)

In the end, as in all performance art, it's the individual that makes the entertainment. Celebracadabra ably demonstrates this fact and shows that it's not so much the trick that one does, but the personality infused into the performance and how it's presented that is most important.