I think it's important in my industry — and many others — to keep an eye on how the rest of the world perceives us. What they think, rightly or wrongly, will shape how we interact with them.
As I've mentioned before, it's not good to put too much stalk in anything on the internet that has some sort of countdown or top-ten-ish quality to it. An important lesson from con artists is that lies are most effective when they are specific. (They're much like jokes in that respect. That's why adding a descriptor like "a construction worker", "a priest" or "a black guy" focuses attention even though the semantic content of the joke would have been the same without it.) So the fact that someone has sorted something in order as a top-ten makes us more likely to accept that they're qualified to do so than if they had just presented us with a list.
And, equally important, "top" in the language of the internet doesn't have any connection to quality or value and usually just means "what came up fastest as I was searching google".
With that in mind, I watched this countown of the "Top 10 Craziest Magic Tricks Ever Performed" produced by WatchMojo.
My thoughts in order:
10. Paul Daniels: The Chop Cup
I've had the opportunity to see Paul Daniels perform this live before he passed away last year. It was a brilliant execution of a modern classic trick, and something I've looked up to for years. The blend of manic speed and crystal clarity is something which is extremely difficult to achieve.
The label of "godfather of modern magic" is probably apt since Paul most likely performed more magic on television than any other person in history.
9. Thomas Blackthorn: Jackhammer swallowing
I had never even heard of Thomas before seeing this clip. Sword swallowing isn't really a magic trick since (normally) you are just doing exactly what you say you are doing and putting a sword down your throat. Magic has roots in shamanistic traditions so activities that demonstrate what we would now call "mind over matter" or dramatic demonstrations of people overcoming dangerous or fear-inducing things seem to be intertwined with magic.
8. Criss Angel: Coin In Arm
I've never been a fan of particularly gory magic tricks. Generally you can just the quality of a magic trick by the way in which the audience reacts. This feels like a bait and switch. You get a visceral reaction from the bloody gross bits and try and pass that off as it being a more impressive trick. But Criss did define magic for a generation of magic enthusiasts (slightly younger than me) and that look on a magician of dark goth-light outsider is still popular years later.
7. Lance Burton: The Dove Act
Lance portrays the perfect archetype of the twentieth century magician with complete with tuxedo, top hat, cane and doves. Dove magic is supposed to represent the creation of live — a symbol of fertility and freedom conjured from thin air. (And when you see this performed live, YES, the birds do really seem to come from thin air.)
6. David Blaine: Spitting Up A Live Frog
David Blaine also played a significant role in defining magic in the public imagination for the twenty-first century. Before him, most TV magic specials were essentially Las Vegas theatre shows captured on camera and broadcast. By taking close-up magic outdoors and spending as much time focusing on the the audience as on the performer, it gave people a new sense of what it was like to see magic live.
Later in his career, he focused on creating a sense of realism with his magic. Well, it doesn't get more real than this.
5. John Armstrong: Tiny Plunger
I've also had the chance to see John perform this life (at the same conference where I met Paul Daniels, actually). And, I can honestly say I still have no idea how it's done.
Here the definition of "crazy" seems to have been temporarily extended to include "strange and whimsical". Nothing against the trick, it's certainly an outlier on this list that was most likely the result of someone's itinerant googling.
4. Harry Houdini: Chinese Water Torture Cell
Houdini was always more famous as an escape artist than he was as a magician. He was probably the world's first superhero and the world's first superstar.
3. Cyril Takayama: Head Removal
The two recurring themes on this list seem to be taking the human body and putting it in physical danger and treating it as a stage prop. The way magicians used to break a cigarette in two and merge the pieces seamlessly back together, Cyril sections of his body and restores it. It's a very jarring effect. Although when the editors say they have no idea how he did it, I believe they're just being polite.
2. David Copperfield: Invisible Man
Undeniably the most successful living magician, David Copperfield knows a good idea when he sees it. One of the greatest secrets is that he doesn't work alone. He is constantly surrounded by a team of brilliant creative consultants who are always pushing the boundaries of what's possible on stage.
1. Penn & Teller: The Bullet Catch
I had a feeling this would be number one. The most important secret to remember — and what only adds to the mystery when you're lying in bed at three o'clock in the morning staring at the ceiling wondering how it works — is that there is no danger in this trick. (Penn has commented there is danger, but that's from someone who is mentally ill not realizing it's a trick and asking him to catch a bullet from a real gun out on the street.)
Pretend danger is a celebration of life. Real danger is for stupid people
Having gone through, I'm much more impressed with the list than I thought I'd be. Granted they don't seem to have a coherent definition of "crazy" but who has that ever bothered. The honourable mentions (the Pendragons, Harry Blackstone Jr. and Richard Ross) are also interesting and worth some further investigation.