unicyclists with skills v. unicyclist with tricks

[leo]

unicyclists do skills, and magicians perform tricks.

Though I found a unicyclist that does a big trick or two; he can make pedals dissapear!

[BradenL]

That is just an easy trick with complicated props. If you have not figured it out by now; the legs on the unicycle are completely fake and motorized, and (as you could see when they turned him around) there is a big space behind his real body; plenty for his real legs to fit in. He is probably sitting on his knees.
Who knows? He might not even ride a unicycle.

In general, I would say plain skills are better than tricks. But there are times where an easy or odd-looking skill would not be as good as a cool trick.

[uni newb]

the whole unicycle part was super lame...actualy id b mad if i went to see thatguy

[OUK]

A pretty expensive show i think! tha unicycle-robot-kinda-leg-thing cant be cheap!! Anyways looked cool the first time, but then i watched it again and right before the unicycle-leg-kinda-thing begins to ride you can see one of his feet!

So he's just a cheater that have to learn how to ride a unicycle, FOR REAL!

[brendan]

trust the french to cheat. Btw ripping that from TV and especially watermarking it as your own is illegal ;-)

Btw the show is called "le plus grand cabaret du monde" it's on France 2 every saturday or sunday I think around 8pm french time.

[maestro8]

Originally Posted by leo

magicians perform tricks

Illusions, Leo

. A trick is something a wh*re does for money.

[UNIROX]

That is real silly! And by silly I mean dumb. O.T.T theatrics and kinky costumes to make up for lack of substance. Then again that is just my opinion...

[johnfoss]

IMHO tricks and skills are two names for basically the same thing. We have used them interchangeably for a long time, so it's messy trying to separate them. Some people don't like the word "tricks" as if a rider is trying to fool us. But magicians also have skills!

[Schrodinger]

Magicion perform "games" with their sleigthts xD.

[Into the blue]

You could clearly see the pole he was cutting with the chainsaw was pre-cut.

I would've started throwing bread rolls at that point.

[ezas]

There was a chainsaw/unicycle in that video?

Pretty tired trick. Just about every stage magician does some version of sawing a woman in half.

The unicycle bit was a nice touch, and good catch about the pedals. I'm guessing the lack of pedal made it easier to hide behind something narrow.

The video was boring but the comparison of the words skills and tricks is more interesting to me.

Skill: the ability, coming from one's knowledge, practice, aptitude, etc., to do something well
Trick: a deceptive, dexterous, or ingenious feat; especially: one designed to puzzle or amuse

A skill impresses and a trick deceives but both are meant to amaze.

Now let's add flourish

Flourish: An unnecessary, decorative embellishment, to wield, wave, or exhibit dramatically.

Eating an apple while juggling. The basic movement is called a chop, and could be learned, well, by a two week juggler in about 15 minutes (with balls, chops with clubs is different matter).

Adding eating the apple just takes confidence in the chop and a slight change in the movement/tempo. The apple 'appears' to make the skill look more difficult and it's meant to add to the entertainment.

So, eating an apple while juggling; Skill, trick or flourish?

[leo]

Originally Posted by OUK

A pretty expensive show i think!

A truck for props, another car for his assistents. Something to drink for the vehicles while crossing Swiss Alphs. And when not doing shows, it probably does not fit in his attic... No not the easiest path.

Originally Posted by brendan

ripping that from TV and especially watermarking it as your own is illegal ;-)

Did you see their logo somewhere?
Copyright is the right to copy under certain conditions that I match.

Originally Posted by brendan

the show is called "le plus grand cabaret du monde"

I've got toes too few to count the many friends and people I know who were on that show.
Including the Czech family who teached me unicycling.
And maybe you'll remember Emilia and Victor Arata from Big Brother's Celebrity Hijack (UK) a season ago? After they quit rollerskating together they did one more performance there (that I still haven't seen).

Originally Posted by uni newb

id b mad if i went to see thatguy

If he was anounced as unicyclist. But he's a magician.
Funny fact: the act is called "Le Velo", so I guess he made a wheel disapear so quickly that we didn't even noticed.

Originally Posted by UNIROX

kinky costumes to make up for lack of substance.

Not my words. But I wouldn't mind to teach any of the girls how to make the unicycle look better.

Originally Posted by johnfoss

IMHO tricks and skills are two names for basically the same thing.

The dictorairy tells an obvious difference between trick and skill.
That's a bigger difference between sadle and seat.

Originally Posted by Into the blue

You could clearly see the pole he was cutting with the chainsaw was pre-cut.

Those were markings indicating the location of the magnets.

But didn't found it weird to hear a petrol engine, while the saw you saw sawing had a cord?

Originally Posted by ezas

So, eating an apple while juggling; Skill, trick or flourish?

Interresting. I vote for the option AND AND AND.

Originally Posted by johnfoss

But magicians also have skills!

Yes! So truth, and by those who do not understand the basics of magic or illusions their skills are very underappreciated. So by these my compliments to Peter Marvey, because you can say what you want, but the audience seemed very stunned with what he showed. And personally I found it a creative variant of this very old-school illusion.

[johnfoss]

Originally Posted by ezas

Pretty tired trick. Just about every stage magician does some version of sawing a woman in half.

But I never saw that one. Imagine the complexity of designing a lower body half riding an otherwise-unsupported unicycle? A very cool mechanism! Illusion magic is comprised of many variations on not-so-many basic ideas. I thought this was a great variation on the being-cut-in-half idea. And not just because it involved a unicycle!

But yes, the side views showed plenty of room for his body to be tucked within the crane thingy. I think it would've been more effective had they not rotated it. But when you do stage magic on TV, sometimes you have to show more, since on the flat TV screen it's hard to see all of what's going on.

Originally Posted by ezas

So, eating an apple while juggling; Skill, trick or flourish?

The "trick" itself is all skill. Flourish is non-essential movement to "decorate" what you're doing, usually before or after the skill part. But sometimes during, such as a drummer twirling his stick in one hand while drumming with the other. Most professional stage magicians use lots of flourish-type movement in their acts, such as what they did at the beginning of this video clip.

BTW, I think you're being a little optimistic on the teaching time for the apple trick. To learn the juggling part is pretty basic, but who ever didn't bash themselves in the mouth at least a few times while trying to get the timing down for that trick?

Originally Posted by leo

Funny fact: the act is called "Le Velo", so I guess he made a wheel disapear so quickly that we didn't even noticed.

But there were two unicycles; the one they carried in, and the one with the mechanical legs on it, that's attached to a mechanism in the platform.

Originally Posted by leo

The dictorairy tells an obvious difference between trick and skill.

Yes, the definitions of those two words are clearly different. It's in everyday usage that they often seem interchangeable. Unicycle tricks are not intended to deceive, but that's what we call them. Not just we; people often ask me to "Do a trick!" Nobody ever asks me to do a skill.

Originally Posted by leo

Those were markings indicating the location of the magnets.

Surely you don't think he pulled out the same pipe that we saw being put into the bag? That was probably some sort of spiral that extends as he lifts it out of the bag. The cut pipes probably stayed in there. A live audience would surely be able to see any "magnets" better than us, at least in a small Flash video. They looked like magic marker lines to me. If he were to use magnets, they would be the same color as the pipe.

Originally Posted by leo

But didn't found it weird to hear a petrol engine, while the saw you saw sawing had a cord?

I found it funny. Very theatrical. Now I wonder who added that sound effect; the magician or the TV production people?

[leo]

Originally Posted by johnfoss

A very cool mechanism!

Yes, and the support is pretty neat "hidden".

Originally Posted by johnfoss

But there were two unicycles; the one they carried in, and the one with the mechanical legs on it, that's attached to a mechanism in the platform.

Oh, right. I still was thinking there was just one unicycle, and he did a extra appear/disappear trick with those pedals. Having another look; it seems te other unicycle has black bumpers.

Originally Posted by johnfoss

Surely you don't think he pulled out the same pipe that we saw being put into the bag? That was probably some sort of spiral that extends as he lifts it out of the bag.

Then you'll have to explain how it can be that ridgit. No, I expect it's also mechanicly a variant of the other even more old-school trick: the self-healing cord. That still allows for the magnetic parts to be in there in advance. Anyway, there is a reason these lines were there, and why he's using his saw that close to that cute face -in stead of the middle- while the girls hold it remarkable tight.

Originally Posted by johnfoss

Now I wonder who added that sound effect; the magician or the TV production people?

Unless the Chineze and Turkish TV production has the same fonotheque, I'd say the magician crew.

YouTube - Peter Marvey'den inan?lmaz...

Originally Posted by UNIROX

kinky costumes to make up for lack of substance.

This any better?

YouTube - 2009FISM Gala Show[Peter...