Vlad Kraven

Magic Notes (week sixteen)

As my readers know, I have been reviewing Keith Barry’s Deception show on the Discovery Channel. You may also know that they weren’t glowing endorsements of the program. Well, Mr. Barry decided it appropriate to call me out on Twitter last Friday, and thought that insulting me would be a good way to get back at my sincere review.

He wrote: “@vladkraven you’re right.I’ve set the bar so low someone like yourself should easily get their own show. Right?You can do it.Go on.lmfao”

Followed by: “My tolerance level for thick people is at an all time low. The rottweiler is out with his teeth sharpened”

I guess independent thought constitutes stupidity in Mr. Barry’s book. Good going Keith Barry, a true class act through and through. You may be trying to rip off Derren Brown’s material and persona, but you sure aren’t half the gentleman he is.

Anyway, moving on. The show is done, now Discovery can move on to quality magicians with the upcoming Penn & Teller show.

Back to our regularly-scheduled program:

-Video of the week is a clip from Derren Brown. That looks familiar! Did Keith Barry borrow it for his Deception show?

-And just for fun, another Derren Brown clip. Hmm, the material looks strikingly familiar to a segment in the Deception Finale…

-Earlier this week, Teller announced that the off-Broadway show he co-created, Play Dead, will be closing on July 24. You MUST go see it before it’s too late — one of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had. My Play Dead review.

-On June 13, we celebrated the birthday of legendary Las Vegas performer Siegfried, of Siegfried & Roy. Siegfried turned 72…Happy birthday!

-Also on June 13, we remember Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin who died on June 13, 1871, 140 years ago.

-Finally, on June 17 we marked the somber day that Milbourne Christopher passed away (1914-1984). He was an author, illusionist, magic collector, skeptic, historian, magical explorer and adventurer. Milbourne Christopher realized early on that “Magic is the most universal of arts,” and devoted his life to a personal quest of learning the deepest secrets and most obscure lore in magic.

Tags: jean eugene robert-houdin, Keith Barry revealed, Milbourne Christopher, Penn and Teller, Siegfried and Roy