Marti Brill's performance on television's "America's Got Talent" was not only maligned by the show’s judges and audience, it's the subject of commentary by People Magazine (there you can also watch a video excerpt of his performance). "Sometimes, when America doesn't have talent, it's more fun than when the contestants actually do...," says the story. "The most entertaining of the slip-ups was the overconfident, 25-year-old magician Marti Brill from Miami."

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"

Good Candidates But Not the Whole Picture

As a sidebar to an interesting article about Bill Malone and Ed Marlo that recently ran in the Chicago Tribune, the writer lists the "five best magic tricks." The writer doesn't offer sources for these opinions, but according to the story, the best "invented" card tricks are:

1. Oil and Water
Red cards and black cards that are mixed somehow separate, all by themselves.

2. Triumph
A deck of cards is shuffled with one-half face-up and the other face-down. The magician somehow straightens out the deck so all of the cards are facing in the same direction, with the exception of a spectator’s selected card.

3. Out of This World
A trick that makes order out of seeming chaos. By seemingly using their intuition and dealing cards, spectators are able to sort black cards from red ones without looking at them.

4. Card Warp
A card seems to turn over as it's slid through another folded card.

5. Ambitious Card
An effect where a selected card continually rises to the top of the deck after being placed into the middle of the deck.

I can personally attest to the power of "Card Warp," "Ambitious Card," "Triumph" and "Out of This World," all of which I perform. Among these, I most often perform "Card Warp" and "Ambitious Card."

I wonder who was consulted for this list. The list leaves out transpositions, card to impossible place (often used as a finale to "Ambitious Card," usually a wallet), "Chicago Opener" and variations (this being a story about Chicago, it's hard to see this one left out). The list leaves out the magician staples such as finding a spectator's selected card and impossible prediction (Martin Lewis' Cardiographic, for one). Lastly, I think Bill Malone's own "Sam the Bell Hop" belongs on the list in place of "Oil and Water."

I occasionally perform a version of "Triumph" called "Licked at Last" by John Luka from his "Uncovered" book and DVD. I particularly like this one because it's all in the hands and doesn't require a table.

The impromptu version of "Out of This World" that I perform is one by Harry Lorayne from his "My Favorite Card Tricks" booklet. (One of these days, I’m going to work up Dean Dill's version called "A New World.") I would perform "Out of this World" more often, but I rarely have a table in my restaurant and strolling venues.

The only trick from the list that I don't perform is "Oil and Water" although I have worked on a version of this trick by Joshua Jay from his "Talk About Tricks" DVD. The routine was all worked up technically, but I couldn’t come up with an entertaining presentation. (Perhaps no one can perform it any better than Rene Lavand).

Got an opinion on the five best magic tricks? Click below on "comments" and be heard.

More Reading:
Has Exposure Caused You to Give-Up a Trick?
Readers Respond: Exposure Caused You to Give-Up a Trick?
YouTube Magic Exposure? No Problem

Should a magician teach magic to kids?

Any magician who is performing in public will be asked if he or she can teach a magic trick, typically to kids. But should a magician reveal secrets? And if a magician wants to teach magic tricks to laymen and magic enthusiasts, what tricks are good ones?

We've been having an interesting discussion in our online forum on this very topic. Find out what our panel has to say.

More Reading:
Has Exposure Caused You to Give-Up a Trick?
Handling Magic Secrets With the Public
YouTube Magic Exposure? No Problem

Fresh on the heels of magician Charlie Caper's big win on television's "Sweden's Got Talent," for the past couple of weeks, magicians have been making their presence known in "America's Got Talent."

The judges have been seemingly open to magic and even complimentary, as in the case of a great performance by Jay Mattiolis and that of Drew Thomas. On the other hand, the performance (he's in the fourth segment) by Marti Brill demonstrated much of what people hate about magic. The judges and audience were brutal.

Why was Marti Brill's routine so ill-received? Many magicians discover early on the power that they have to fool audiences, but fail to realize that a performer also has to be entertaining and likable. Everyone likes to be entertained, but no one likes to be fooled. And if audiences don’t like the magician, the act is essentially over. Brill was arrogant and unlikeable, a trait that I see in far too many magicians, amateur and pro.

Brill has potential as a magician, but he's got to change the attitude and be willing to work with a director who can reform his stage persona and presentation. Some of what I saw in Brill's performance is what I'm talking about in my article, The Five Biggest Mistakes Made by Beginning Magicians.

Mattiolis and Thomas, on the other hand, each presented the right combination of bravado with likable personas. I liked Mattiolis' tightly choreographed routine that featured lots of polish and flair with dance moves in the transitions and excellent use of music. Thomas performed a classic with lots of panache and style. Well done.

More Reading:
The Charlie Caper Interview
Magician Wins "Sweden's Got Talent"
The Five Biggest Mistakes Made by Beginning Magicians