Look, I know a magician saying they like Breaking the Magician's Code is a pretty unpopular opinion and I hope I don't get crucified for this. I remember back when they were first airing everyone was up in arms about the whole thing and saying it was the worst thing to ever happen for magic. That first special aired almost 20 years ago and, as far as I can tell, magic's still around. I think my experience with it might be different because most of the close up stuff I do was never revealed on the show. A stage magician might have a different take on the whole thing.
I love watching magic, and I also love learning magic and seeing how it's done. I can appreciate a beautiful method the same way I appreciate a beautiful trick. Granted, most of the things revealed on the show fall very short of "beautiful method" but still, every now and then I get a moment of "Huh, that's pretty clever." I feel like a lot of things shown were made up just for the show. One thing that immediately comes to mind is being chained to a ladder and raised above flaming spikes, only to appear later in an adjacent building. You know, that old classic of magic.
I'm not saying revealing those tricks was the greatest thing to happen to the world of magic, but I also don't think it was the worst thing ether. If anything, it got people talking about magic again. No such thing as bad press and all that, right? I remember when Mindfreak was a thing and people would ask me about his stuff. Instead of calling bullshit on it, I could go "I know, that was cool right? But how about this?" and show them something of my own. Like I said, I know it's a divisive topic but personally, I like being able to put them on in the background and watch some magic. Maybe one day Netflix will get the World's Greatest Magic specials, or some David Copperfield or David Blaine. Until then, I'm going to watch these. I remember watching when it originally aired and, for some reason, watching this doofus slide down a trap door while looking at the camera made me laugh my ass off.
Bo Burnham is one of the best comedians I've seen. I used to think he was just a funny song guy, which I'm not really a fan of. I never gave him a chance before and I regret that. His is very witty and I love the wordplay he uses. He also really makes you think about things. The two specials of his that are currently on Netflix, what. and Make Happy are both incredible. They both kind of push the line between stand-up comedy and performance art and both of them have left me at the end kind of sitting in silence going "Damn." The ending of Make Happy where he talks about us all being performers really hit home with me. They're both fantastic specials and well worth a watch or several. I do want to link the ending of what. right now because it's fantastic but you should watch the whole thing. Dude is a rockstar and he's fucking killing it. I hope he's happy.
The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross is on Netflix now too, and I could not be happier. One thing I wish I had in this life is artistic talent and Bob Ross makes me feel like I could paint like him. Maybe one day I'll get a paint sent and give it a shot. For now, I'm content with just watching and relaxing while he creates these beautiful scenes. It's amazing to me to see how he starts with nothing and these amazing landscapes just appear effortlessly. Even hearing him describe what he's doing as a twist of the wrist turns a blob of paint into waves or mountains blows my mind.
Bob Ross is the best magician I've ever seen.
- Andster
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