Four Scoops of Vanilla

No one has been more critical of Criss Angel than I have been. His schtick is corny as hell. He looks like the Crypt Keeper after a shopping spree at Hot Topic. And the dark and brooding bullshit is equally tired. Whenever I see someone trying to come off as a real sinister badass, I always picture them on the toilet trying to push out a real difficult shit.

I've long been an advocate for people just presenting magic and being normal, approachable humans as well. A lot of magicians fight against that because they want to be perceived as having a real power. And if they had a real power, then they'd surely be some mysterious kook, right? I guess. But that's not my style.

So it's been heartening to see a movement in the past few years to a more natural style in magic performances. But have we gone a little too far in the other direction? I mean, let's take a look at some of the bigger names in magic on tv and the internet...

They seem to all have something in common. Hmmm... what could it be. I mean there's no doubt these guys represent the rich cultural tapestry you see in modern magic. It's really great to see such diversity. For instance, do you want a magician who is a young, pleasant, unthreatening, white, male with dark hair that is two and a half inches long? Or do you want to go crazy and get a magician who is a young, pleasant, unthreatening, white, male with dark hair that is three and three-quarters of an inch long? The choice is yours. 

I don't have any issues with these guys as individuals; I enjoy a lot of their work. It's just when you look at them as a group that this current crop of magicians and their magic can seem a little... monochromatic. In fact I sometimes have trouble keeping them straight in my mind. 

Which is why I thought it would be a true test to see if I could discern which one you were thinking of throughout the course of an interactive magic trick!