Anatomy of a Magic Disaster
I disagree. I don't think that Brill's problem was a lack of talent. From what I've seen in his online videos and even his television performance, he's got good technical skills. It's his presentation and persona that were a disaster and he set himself up by being overconfident and arrogant - a sure way to alienate viewers.
No doubt, performing on television is difficult. Charlie Caper, who recently won "Sweden's Got Talent," mentioned in our interview how challenging it was to meet the show's time constraints.
Mish Mash
Brill's routine was all over the map - a series of unrelated tricks thrown together. Brill began with card manipulations that led nowhere.
Compare, on the other hand, Jeff McBride's card manipulation routine that builds and climaxes and involves and excites the audience. In Brill's hands, the card manipulations were simply unimpressive stunts.
Next came the soda can effect (I have a policy of not naming tricks when writing about them). But why was Brill handed a can of soda in the middle of his routine? He was only performing for a short time and surely wasn't going to stop for an unnecessary drink. This made no sense.
On the other hand, Lance Burton performs a similar effect in his Las Vegas show, but it comes at an unexpected moment and the props arrive in a logical manner. They aren't simply handed to him to perform a trick.
Stupid Overacting
Most disturbing about Brill's glass segment was his grossly-exaggerated acting, just as if he was surprised by the glass' action. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common sign of a cheap kid's magician and the type of magic that the public sees and makes them despise the entire art of magic.
Silly overacting may be tolerated when performing for an audience of very young kids - the "Barney the Purple Dinosaur" crowd who may enjoy it, but it's irritating and insulting to anyone over the age of six.
Not Rising to the Occasion
The final segment (not shown in the video but you can see the setup behind Brill) features a suspension of Brill's assistant. While the effect is a good one, everything is already in place and there's no "proving."
Most magicians bring out the props one by one and build the platform in front of the audience to show that the props are normal. Brill should have devoted his entire time to properly building-up and executing this effect.
I don't write this to pick on Marti Brill. I think he can be a good performer, but he has to get out of the mind set of trying to simply fool people and think more about entertaining them. Magic is not about showing off, it's about connecting with audiences and providing them with fun.
More Reading:
America's Got Magic?
The Charlie Caper Interview
Magician Wins "Sweden's Got Talent"
Comments
Has anyone considered that this guy might have planned an arrogant and horrible presentation on purpose?
You all saw the act.. how do you suppose such an “untalented” performer made it through the off-camera first round in the first place just to be berated by the judges on camera.
My take: He purposely performed bad. I’m not saying it didn’t come easy to him.. maybe he wasn’t faking… but I think he.. and the shows producers knew exactly what they were getting and why he was aired in the first place.
LOTS of HHORRIBLE acts make it to the AGT big stage. Have you ever considered the possibility of it being aired just for cruelty entertainment purposes?
He definitelly was not faking: He is just plain horrible.
Hi, Wayne. It’s Bryan… the first M&I Guide. I’ve never commented here, but I thought, since Marti used to post on my MagicTalk site about 10 years ago that it might be relevant.
Magic has its stigma. Mainly, so many magicians are performing magic as a lame version of Doug Henning. Or dancing to music. Or having no framework in the routines or show.
Marti performed a string of unrelated tricks (if you could call them that) and ended up failing. Failing big.
In most cases, one can learn from their failures. Sadly, I believe Marti will not… possibly adding his “appearance” on that show to his resume with the added “As seen on…”
One of the things I don’t like about the art of magic is that it seems too simple. Buy a trick, do it a few times and then regurgitate it on an unsuspecting crowd. (If you were learning the piano, would you do the same after just a few lessons?)
Mart’s performance on America’s Got Talent should be a huge wake-up call for anyone who wants to perform before a crowd. And, for anyone who thinks he or she is “the world’s greatest”.
Whatever THAT means.
I LOVE this article. It echoes what I’ve been teaching at TimDavidMagic.com for years. Wayne, your closing statement says it all…
“…get out of the mind set of trying to simply fool people and think more about entertaining them. Magic is not about showing off, it’s about connecting with audiences and providing them with fun.”
Egotism is ALWAYS a show-wrecker.
On purpose or not, this guy reflects very poorly on what magic is.
And I agree with what Bryan says, this guy is already using his video appearance (heavily edited) on youtube to make him look like he did well on the show.
He thinks he’s the awesomest thing in the history of awesome.
If his “super dick” persona is an invention, I’d expect it to be funnier.