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Kenton Knepper's Krystal Visions

TV Anyone?
by Kenton Knepper

I have been an armchair critic, yelling at a performer on television for his lack of seeming ability. I know the frustration. But back then; sitting in my comfortable chair or couch, I did not know other frustrations, the real, behind the scenes frustrations of performing magic and mentalism on television.

Next time you feel the urge to lash out at a brother or sister performer on television, I hope you keep some of the following realities and situations in mind.

One performer was asked to do 10 shows on television - and film it all in a few months. Imagine that you got this call - could you do 10 different shows? How long would it take you to put it together? How long would it take you to perfect each effect in each show?

Now imagine that the producers of these shows have decided you need to do roughly twenty tricks each show. Are you still up to the task?

Sure, you say. Now producers tell you that you must not do certain types of tricks, including many effects you had planned on performing. You have two weeks left before shooting. No problem, right?

Two weeks later you are filming. The producers tell you that you need to do interviews and press. You point out that you only have a short period of time to film all the shows they want as it is. They say that's okay - just work a little harder and longer. You are already used to sleeping five hours a night at most as it is. Soon, you realize that not sleeping for days on end is how it is in TV land. You forge ahead with a smile.

Somehow or another you manage all 10 shows. Critics and the public rave about you.

But magicians hate you. Mentalists hate you. They could have done much better, they are sure of it. They insist they are far more creative than you. They are sure they would never have done any "dealer's trick" if they had such a fine opportunity!

Yet most of these critics find it difficult to thrill an audience for a single hour, let alone 10 shows.

That's when the network calls and wants 10 more shows - and a season special.

Meantime, magicians and mentalists are seething. "Why can't he be more like so-and-so?" they exclaim. "Why can't he be more original? I am better than he is! Why can't he be more skilled? Why did he get the lucky break and not me?" they cry.

When was the last time you spent five or six years of your life doing nothing (and I do mean nothing outside of eating and going to the restroom) working on making a name for yourself? You leave your wife or fiancé behind, tour the world, work night and day, for years on end. You speak on very rare occasions to family. You do not see friends. You don't have time to celebrate holidays, or your birthday - you are working. The only time there is available is time to make a name for yourself and perform. Nothing else. Period.

Now another network wants you to do a special as well. On top of the 20 shows you have just completed or are in the midst of shooting, that is. You work it all out, and go to another country once again to shoot this show. When you arrive, the network says, "Welcome to this country. By the way, all the big tricks and all the little ones we gave our okay to up until last night are out". You have to shoot with 40 new tricks they say by Monday morning. It's Friday at midnight.

If you think I am exaggerating, I am actually being kind compared to the realities I have experienced.

Meantime, magicians and mentalists are kicking you back at home, spending free time in newsgroups and chat rooms. You wish you had even an hour to do that. But they feel they are the real experts, and you are the slacker.

You know you have to have 40 tricks by Monday because the network will throw away over half of them. What you did not plan on was that once they filmed all of these effects, things would change yet again. The president of the network in another country says, "All the things you filmed at night are out - I want this to look like it happened during a single day. All the things you shot in such-and-such a club are out - we have a dispute with their Parent Company. All the risky things you shot are out, our Legal Department won't stand for any of that. Oh, and your big finale that has been your trademark for years is out too- for legal reasons. Find a new finale to the show"

Now you have no opening, no big finale, and most of the middle is cut out too. Two days from now, the show is going to be on the air. You don't get to re-shoot anything. No time. You find yourself in an editing room with the network and producers fighting for material to make it on air… and at midnight, on another continent, you send the pieces you have managed to pull together so it can air in less than 10 hours to spare.

Then magicians and mentalists hate you. You are not doing anything they deem is special. How does that make you feel?

Meantime, your trademark ending that the network would not allow you to air has somehow leaked out and is seen all over the Internet. Another performer sees your trademark pieces and puts it into his special instead.

You get a call to do an even bigger special. You want to do certain trademark things, but by now other performers have performed your special trademark material as their own. Magicians and mentalists talk about how you have probably stolen material from the guys who in truth took your very own effects and named it theirs.

You wonder why magicians and mentalists dislike you. You work very, very hard. You give all you can to the art. You even allow some of your hard work to be tipped to other performers. You help advance the awareness of magic and mentalism around the world. You do benefits and give back to the places you visit. You do all of this in a truly positive way, rather than belittling magical or mental skill or presentation.

But it's not enough.

And all of this is just for starters. This is how it goes for years on end, before you get the really big break. That's when other performers really whine about how it is unfair that you got to where you are when they are the ones who were "working hard".

I am not whining, nor is anyone I know performing in television. They take it as it comes. They have learned they have to do so. They adjust their work and skills in more ways than most performers could even dare imagine, let alone actually pull off successfully.

When I get letters from friends and acquaintances telling me how they feel about certain performers, and how much better they would do themselves, I think to myself, "They really have no idea how rough and challenging this is."

I encourage all of you who have comment to get out there and do it yourself. Find out the facts firsthand before belittling what others are doing. When you show me that you can go through all the hurdles and hoops I know performers have had to go through, and you come off far better than these performers in the eyes of the public and network producers then I will take into account your fine examinations of others.

But few performers make it today, especially in the States, unless they have something going for them. They may have only hard work going for them, but they do have that. They also generally have one more very important tool. It isn't genius or creativity.

All the performers I know personally on television are unique as people. Their own persona has determined their success. Who they are is as important, if not more so, than what they do. Successful performers know this as fact. They know their brand is more vital than their effects, and that their effects really ought be a way to express who they are. They use tricks to describe themselves, not to make or break them.

The vast majority of would-be stars spend time in newsgroups debating the "unfair" success of others.

I think time is better spent either making your own success, or working on being more of a persona that will enrich and enchant the lives of others.

But then again, I am trapped inside a television set at the moment.

You get to change channels at your leisure.

Kenton