I always take great delight in seeing someone perform an act. By "act", i mean a set routine of lines & actions coordinated and done mostly the same way every time. This could be a comedy sketch, a magic show, an old vaudeville clip, etc. The beauty of watching an act - and this sentiment tends to go against modern sensibilities - is that through constant repetition & refinement, over time an act becomes so finely honed that within a few short minutes, you're basically watching someone's life distilled through their art form. That's a wonderful thing, really.
The other day i came across the following video on my buddy Ben T's Facebook page. Watch the entire thing.
I was particularly impressed by the cube bubble. The whole thing is very unique & a lot of fun to watch. If you search around on Youtube, you can find clips of Tom Noddy doing virtually the same act, decades later.
I won't get into semantics over the use of the word "magic" in the description of this act. It's not really magic - i would classify it more as a series of brilliant stunts, or possibly juggling...though i would say it is magical in its own way.
You can check out Tom Noddy's website here. HEY CAM CONVENTION PEOPLE - WOULDN'T THIS GUY BE A PERFECT FIT FOR THE CONVENTION??
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I like your take on what an "act" is about. I attended a magic convention in London last month where Juan Tamariz spoke about being real on stage even while performing a trick and saying the same funny lines (and even, in his case, laughing at those lines himself) even though it had been done so many times.
He told of presenting a gift to his son that he had carefully wrapped in several layers of paper. Then he waited and watched while his son unwrapped it and he felt and expressed the excitement of anticipation as it was slowly unveiled. He pointed out to us that he KNOWS what is inside the package but he nonetheless actually FEELS the anticipation. He isn't faking it.
It may be a knack or a developed skill, I don't know, but some performers are able to feel it as fresh even after presenting it the same way for many years. If that's the case, you are exactly right about the advantage of a well honed act developing more perfect timing (this particular clip of my early days is, I think, a poor example of that in my case but ... so be it). Thanks for presenting it.
Tom, that clip (and the others i've seen) of your act are a joy to watch.
Thanks for sharing your insights!
Post a Comment